Ranma's Apartment
by C. Jones
Summary: Nerima's best martial artist gets tired of the daily trial that is life at the Tendou Dojo and decides to do something about it, while Akane has to decide what she feels, or lose Ranma forever.
1. Ranma's Apartment

This and all my other fanfiction is available at  
http://www.furinkan.net  
  
From ffml-bounce@fanfic.com Sat Oct 7 13:51:52 2000  
  
  
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Ranma's Apartment  
  
a Ranma 1/2 - Aa! Megami-sama Fanstory  
by Chris Jones  
  
revised 10-07-2000  
----------------------------------------  
  
Ranma glared around at the destruction that surrounded him. He  
was *trying* to get ready for his class, but now that was completely  
out of the question.  
  
Having forgotten about him for a brief second, Ukyou and Shampoo  
were wrestling. They had rolled over near the dojo, and were kicking up  
an inordinate amount of dust. His father was unconscious, in panda  
form, lying half on, half off of the steps.  
  
Ryouga, P-chan rather, was just crawling out of the koi-pond, but  
he still had vengeance in his eyes, and was about to leap for Ranma.  
  
"DON'T PICK ON P-CHAN, BAKA!"  
  
Ranma spun around, but couldn't avoid Akane's frying pan. He fell  
to the ground half dazed, but his eyes cleared as Akane was picking a  
broadly grinning piglet up off of one of the large rocks near the pond.  
  
"I wasn't pickin' on the pig, Akane. He attacked *me*."  
  
"Oh, I'm so sure. I know you like to beat him all the time."  
  
"Akane I ain't gonna--"  
  
"Aiyah! Violent girl no harrass husband!"  
  
"That's right, Honey! You want to bully Ran-chan, you're gonna  
have to go through me!" Shampoo and Ukyou had both momentarily  
forgotten their fight to gang up on Akane. Ranma stood up to protest,  
but was roughly shoved aside by a blue blur.  
  
"Akane, take the advice of these two serving-women and leave  
Saotome's foul embrace for the tender mercies that only I can provide."  
Tatewaki Kunou posed with his back to Ranma. "Even then, I shall  
struggle endlessly to also free the fair pigtailed girl from his dark  
clutches."  
  
"Serving-women?!?!" Ukyou and Shampoo cried in unison.  
  
"Kunou, how many times do I gotta tell you not to--"  
  
"Ranma-sama!!!! Ohohohohoho! Now I will take you away from the  
abuse of all these harridans!"  
  
"Ranma!" Akane shouted, "How could you invite Kodachi here?!?!"  
  
"I didn't invite no--"  
  
"Ribbon girl leave husband alone!"  
  
"Shampoo, listen to me... I gotta go to--"  
  
"Hush, Ran-chan. I'm just going to remove a few unwelcome  
intrusions to our relationship."  
  
"Ukyou! Why--"  
  
"Ranma, you pervert! How can you keep stringing all these girls  
along when you're engaged?"  
  
"Akane, I'm not--"  
  
"Now is not the time to proclaim your innocence, enslaver of  
women. Now is the time to die under Blue Thunder's mighty onslaught!"  
  
"I AIN'T GOT TIME FOR--"  
  
"Bukuiii!!!"  
  
"Damnitt, somebody get this pig--"  
  
"Stop picking on P-chan, Ranma!"  
  
"ALL RIGHT, I'VE HAD IT!!!!"  
  
The world stopped as Ranma 'had it'. The resulting explosion of  
three years worth of pent up violence lasted several minutes. The first  
casualty was the 'Blue Thunder'. He was sent back home via the Hiryuu  
Shouten Ha.  
  
Kodachi didn't escape so easily. She ended up unconscious and  
tied up upside down from the overhang in her own ribbon.  
  
Happosai showed up sometime during the middle of the fight with a  
pail of cold water, but was forcibly ejected in much the same manner  
Kunou was before he got a chance to use it.  
  
Ukyou and Shampoo both cowered, crying, in one corner of the  
walled-in yard, transfixed and terrified by Ranma's fiery gaze and  
cruel words.  
  
"...An' if I ever see either of you again, it'll be too soon.  
This has gone on long enough. Now it's over. All the engagements are  
*over*!"  
  
Both girls broke at his pronouncement. They leapt the fence and  
ran off in opposite directions.  
  
To her horror, Ranma strode up to Akane with the same murderous  
expression on his face. She held P-chan protectively to her breast as  
he approached.  
  
"R-R-Ranma?"  
  
"Same thing goes for you, Akane. I'm tired of your crap, and I'm  
tired of bein' hit all the time. You're violent, you're mean, you don't  
listen to anything I gotta say, and I've been trying to get along for  
three years. No more, Akane. No more! I sick of it all, and I'm sick of  
*you*!"  
  
Suddenly, there was a demon head and a monstrous panda hovering  
over Ranma.  
  
"HOW DARE YOU TREAT YOUR FIANCEE IN SUCH A MANNER, BOY?!?!"  
  
"GRRROOOWWWWFFF!"  
  
Ranma glared back with none of his usual fear. "Just you wait,  
Pops, Tendou. You're next."  
  
Akane stared back at Ranma with tears standing in her eyes. He  
was glowing with rage, and getting brighter.  
  
"Now, I'm in college, and I'm about to fail out 'cause I can't  
get even GET TO CLASS 'CAUSE OF ALL THE CRAP THAT GOES ON AROUND HERE.  
I'VE HAD IT!"  
  
He spun back around to Akane and pointed a finger directly at her  
face. "I'll be damned if I ever marry a tomboy like you. Do you hear  
that? I'm gone, and I ain't ever comin' back."  
  
* * *  
  
Akane watched him walk out. All he left with was one suitcase,  
and his backpack. She had a horrible feeling in that if she were to  
look in the guest room that it would be as empty as it was before he  
came.  
  
Just like that, after all the time he had spent here, he was  
gone. After his horrible pronouncement, he had made no more effort to  
fight or insult anyone. He just left and said he wasn't coming back.  
  
P-chan nuzzled her warmly, but her skin was far too numb to  
notice. She felt the blood drain out of her face and ears, but not the  
tears that coursed down her face.  
  
"Bweee?"  
  
"H-h-he's gone? B-b-but..."  
  
She watched him turn the corner over and over again in her mind.  
He was gone.  
  
Akane's legs went out from under her as her father began to speak  
with Uncle Saotome.  
  
"He's coming back, isn't he, Saotome-kun?"  
  
"Of course, Tendou-kun. He's always come back, before. Why  
wouldn't he this time?"  
  
She looked up into Genma's face. It betrayed his calm words with  
a worried glance back down at her.  
  
* * *  
  
Ranma sighed as he strolled down the street. His mother had just  
given him enough money to rent an apartment and buy food. He'd have to  
get a part-time job and cook for himself, but he was *finally* away  
from all the craziness.  
  
He thought back to the conversation with his mother after he left  
the dojo.  
  
"You could always stay here, Ranma. It's not that far from  
campus, and the building has a very nice athletic workout room."  
  
He shrugged, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "It's just, I  
gotta be on my own for a while. How am I gonna learn to live by myself  
if I never get the chance?"  
  
"Those words are years beyond you, Ranma. You're only nineteen. I  
lived with my parents until I was twenty-two, and then with Genma until  
you were four."  
  
He tried to counter by stating that the generations were  
different, but got tied up in his words like he usually did. In the  
end, she accepted his explanation anyway. He privately suspected that  
she understood his real reasons.  
  
It was difficult to tell his mother that he didn't want to move  
back in with her. It would be so nice to have someone to cook for him.  
Someone who would clean and keep the house nice. No, he *had* to get  
away from that.  
  
*From now on, *NOBODY* tells Ranma Saotome what to do but Ranma.*  
  
He turned, following a guide-book map to the apartment building.  
  
He had seen it earlier in the week. It was on his way to school,  
fairly near the University's sports-center as a matter of fact. It was  
a new building, so the rates were very inexpensive as it tried to  
attract tenants.  
  
He looked up at it as he approached the front walk. It was a  
grey, hulking monstrosity, but it was likely to be his home for the  
next several weeks, if not indefinitely.  
  
He walked into the front doors, and began to look for the rental  
office. A pleasant looking older woman, about forty or so, called to  
him from an open door.  
  
"Are you looking for something?"  
  
Ranma turned, and adjusted his backpack slightly. "Yeah, I'm  
lookin' to rent a room."  
  
"Oh, you've come to the right place then!" She opened the door  
wide, and waved Ranma inside.  
  
"Are you a student?"  
  
Ranma nodded nervously as the woman began to rifle through  
several folders. She pulled out several documents, and a ball point  
pen, which she handed to Ranma.  
  
"What are you studying, if you don't mind my asking?"  
  
"Ummm... Physical education. I'm gonna be a martial arts  
teacher."  
  
"Hmmm, a teacher, how nice! I need you to fill out this," She  
pointed to the first sheet, "And this one as well, to this line. My  
name's Mariko, so if you have any questions, just ask."  
  
* * *  
  
Akane sat in her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest,  
sobbing uncontrollably. P-chan was doing his best to keep her company,  
but he was scant comfort.  
  
There was a soft knock on the door, and Kasumi came in and sat  
down next to her. She gently ran her motherly hand across Akane's short  
hair and pulled the girl close for an embrace.  
  
"How are you doing, little sister?"  
  
Akane just buried her head in her sister's shoulder.  
  
"Do you miss Ranma"  
  
"I do NOT miss that baka hentai!"  
  
"Of course not."  
  
The gates were open, though. Once Akane had spoken, the words  
continued to fall out of her mouth like running water.  
  
"How could he do something like that?!?! He insults me all the  
time, and makes fun of me, and won't eat my cooking! Doesn't he care  
about how I feel!"  
  
"I'm certain he does, Akane."  
  
"It's not fair! He sees all the other girls, and doesn't pay any  
attention at all to me, and he does so many things that make me angry,  
and--"  
  
"Now, Akane, is that really his fault?"  
  
"Of course it is! He's a perverted jerk!"  
  
"I'm not so sure. Any time Shampoo or Kodachi shows up, he really  
does try his best to get away from her. You really don't give him a  
chance before you hit him, you know."  
  
A fresh wave of tears started. "That's *HIS* fault! Besides, what  
about Ukyou?!?!"  
  
Kasumi bit her bottom lip. "Regardless of how Ukyou feels for  
him, she *is* one of Ranma's best friends. She's known him since he was  
very little."  
  
Akane nodded, but kept her angry expression.  
  
"Have you ever given him a chance, Akane?"  
  
"Wha--"  
  
"Just once, why don't you try letting him explain himself, Akane.  
Ranma's not very good with words, you know. If you give him a chance,  
he may have a reasonable explanation or two."  
  
"HE BROKE OUR ENGAGEMENT! How can there be an explanation for  
that?"  
  
P-chan 'Buki'ed' in agreement.  
  
Kasumi smiled and put her hands back in her lap. "All right. My  
friend, Mako, has a younger brother about your age. I want you to spend  
the rest of your life with him without any previous visits or knowing  
even what he looks like. Regardless of your first impression, I'm going  
to ask that you treat him with devotion and honor, and be a good wife  
to him regardless of how he treats you and how faithful he acts."  
  
"Kasumi! How can you ask that of..." Reality crashed down on  
Akane as her words stumbled to a halt.  
  
Kasumi nodded in acknowledgment. "Regardless of what it seems,  
that's exactly what an arranged marriage is. Regardless of the way you  
feel about Ranma, one of his first memories of you is being hit over  
the head with our table."  
  
Akane felt the fear she had first felt at his leaving clench a  
new claw around her heart. "But that means that he hates me! He's gone,  
and he'll never be back!"  
  
"I very much doubt that Ranma hates you, Akane. More likely, he  
needs some time away. Perhaps he wants a chance to get to know you like  
a new person. A person that doesn't fight with him or hit him on a  
daily basis, maybe?"  
  
"How can I know?"  
  
Kasumi patted her shoulder again. "You can't, Akane. Not unless  
he tells you. You have to go to him." She looked up at Akane's  
calendar, which was just barely readable in the darkness. "You have  
class tomorrow. Why don't you find out where he eats lunch and go  
apologize for hitting him today. Maybe you should take back some of the  
things you said, as well."  
  
Akane nodded, nervously.  
  
"Remember, you must not lose your temper, or you will only be  
working against yourself. Promise me, Akane?"  
  
Akane clenched her eyes and nodded, weakly. "I'll try, Kasumi."  
  
The older girl smiled and embraced her sister. "It'll be okay,  
Akane. You'll see."  
  
After Kasumi left, the only sound in Akane's bedroom was a soft,  
anguished snuffling as P-chan tried to comfort Akane.  
  
* * *  
  
It was fairly late by the time Ranma returned to his apartment  
from grocery shopping. He opened the door of his apartment, and sat the  
bag of food down on the floor next to the refrigerator.  
  
As he began to stack the food inside the small refrigerator,  
Ranma decided that he liked the design of the room. It was compact, yet  
efficient. There was room for a little furniture and a futon, once he  
could afford them.  
  
For a second, he worried about the lack of a dresser. He had  
lived out of a backpack for almost a decade, but his half of the guest  
room bureau at the Tendou's was something he had grown accustomed to.  
  
He did have a small closet, so he hung what he could on wire  
hangers, and laid his bedroll out in place of a futon.  
  
*Gotta see about the facilities. Never know when I'm gonna need  
hot water.* He padded over to a narrow door set near to the apartment's  
entrance and opened it.  
  
A face stared back at him.  
  
"Ah-ah-ah-ah--"  
  
Luckily, she was fully clothed.  
  
"You must be the new tenant! Hi, I'm Megumi. Would you excuse me  
for a minute?" She pulled his door closed.  
  
Rather than wait at the door, Ranma ran back to his pack and  
pulled out the floor plan advertisement. Sure enough, every two rooms  
shared a bathroom.  
  
*Ack! I'm sharing a bathroom with-- one person?*  
  
It was true. It was a *significant* improvement over the Tendou  
place, where there was frequently a line for the toilet every morning.  
True, it threw another unknown into Ranma's situation, be he thought it  
was one he could deal with.  
  
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Ranma pulled  
it open to find Megumi standing there.  
  
"Uh... I'm Ranma. Sorry 'bout that."  
  
She smiled warmly and wagged her finger at him. "We'll just have  
to be careful about walking in on each other. Here," She handed him a  
little sign on a piece of string. One side was bright green and the  
other was bright red. "Hang this on your doorknob, and when I go, I'll  
reach in and turn in around. I'll put one just like it on my door. This  
way, we'll always know if there's somebody in the restroom."  
  
Ranma nodded and rubbed his chin. "Sounds like it'd work. Pretty  
nice that the rooms even have bathrooms."  
  
"Yeah, and Western style shower stalls, too!"  
  
"Really?"  
  
She waved him inside the small bathroom. Indeed, it did have a  
glass-doored shower stall set into the wall across from the porcelain  
basin.  
  
Megumi crossed her arms over her chest and leaned up against the  
tile wall. "It's not a furo, but it's still pretty nice."  
  
Ranma could only nod. Hot water... on demand. He would never have  
to wait for a kettle again. "This is... wonderful!"  
  
"I'll say. Hey, are you a student too?"  
  
* * *  
  
  
Megumi was an engineering student, along with her brother. Her  
parents were strict conservatives, and originally wanted her to rent an  
apartment with their other child while they attended university, but by  
the time she tracked him down, he was already happily shacked up with  
his gaijin girlfriend.  
  
Megumi *could* have told her mother, who would not have approved  
and probably disowned her son, be she held back because her brother's  
lover was so *nice*.  
  
She found this apartment building, after she heard some bad  
rumors about the rent house her brother found for her and took  
advantage of the move-in special when it was first constructed.  
  
That was a year ago.  
  
Since, the building had done poorly. The service was excellent,  
but the building had an odd design which was unacceptable to many of  
its potential customers. It just barely stayed afloat.  
  
Just recently, the manager had lowered the rates back to the  
special level when the building had first been constructed in a last  
ditch effort to keep it solvent. Megumi, who had attended the tenants  
meeting when the building was facing bankruptcy, was rather proud that  
the building was finally attracting tenants. Ranma was one of the first  
of the new batch as the building was slowly becoming populated.  
  
Megumi was rather shocked to learn that her suite-mate had been  
the unwilling recipient of no less than seven different marriage  
proposals, several of which his father encouraged.  
  
"You're kidding, right?"  
  
Sadly, Ranma shook his head. "Nah, I wish I was. Pops would do  
just about anything if it meant a free meal. He even tried to make it  
my fault that he stole the cart. Asked me if I liked okonomiyaki more,  
or the girl. I even thought she was just another guy 'till I was  
sixteen 'cause I hadn't seen her since I was five."  
  
"That's awful! How could anyone do something like that to their  
own child?" Megumi sipped at the soda she brought in from her room.  
  
"That's why I wanted to get away from the old fart. Every time  
somthin' went wrong, it was my fault, regardless of what really  
happened."  
  
Megumi put her hands under her chin. "So which one do you like?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Which one of the girls? The amazon, the chef, the martial artist  
or the gymnast?"  
  
Ranma's face took on a sick expression. "Eugh... I've had enough  
of Shampoo to last me a lifetime. I hear one more--" Ranma changed his  
voice to a falsetto singsong, "'-- Wo-da Airen!' an I'm gonna puke!"  
  
"The chef, Ukyou wasn't it? She sounds like a pretty good friend.  
What do you think about her?"  
  
Ranma shook his head. "Ukyou's nice and pretty and all, but she's  
my best friend. It'd be like marryin' my sister." *Or brother...* He  
added mentally. "Kodachi's *really* pretty."  
  
"I think I saw her at one of my friend's gymnastic competitions  
once. If it's the same person, I know what you mean."  
  
Ranma nodded. "Pretty, but crazy as loon. She's into all sorts of  
drugs, and tries to poison people all the time. She *needs* help,  
but'll never get it 'cause she's so rich. 'Kodachi's not crazy, just  
eccentric.'"  
  
"How many times have I heard that?" Megumi rolled her eyes. "So  
what about the martial artist? You seem to have a lot in common, if  
nothing else."  
  
Ranma just looked down at his feet.  
  
"You like her, don't you? Hmmm?"  
  
Ranma ran his finger along the texture in the carpet, trying to  
word his response. "Yeah... I like her. I like her a lot, but she  
doesn't like me very much at all. She hates all the other girls, 'cept  
Ukyou, and even they don't get along real well. She gets mad really  
easy and she gets frustrated about just about anything.  
  
"Sometimes, she smiles at me. It's when I've just won a fight, or  
kept her from gettin' hurt, but it makes me feel like..."  
  
Megumi grinned broadly, and cocked her head at him. "Oooh, what a  
lucky girl! To have a hunk of a martial artist like you in love with  
her. Mmmm... what I'd give!"  
  
"Hey, I'm not in love with her!"  
  
"Sure, Ranma. You're also not a martial artist," Megumi teased.  
  
Ranma was about to say something else, but Megumi started  
laughing and he couldn't keep from joining her.  
  
They talked long into the night, about their families and loves.  
Ranma realized that he had found a true friend.  
  
Just before she went back to her own room for the night, Megumi  
pulled out a spare futon, and a little black and white television to  
lend Ranma until he could afford his own furnishings. He tried to  
refuse them, but Megumi plugged the television in and turned it on for  
him before he finished protesting.  
  
"There, now. I'm sure that you won't have a problem with these,  
right?"  
  
Ranma rolled his eyes, but Megumi had somehow managed to find his  
favorite martial arts movie when she turned on the set. It would be  
nice to have a real futon too, instead of his thin bedroll. He sighed,  
and began to lay his blankets over the top of it. "They'll be fine. I'm  
just trying to get away from--" he pronounced the word with obvious  
distaste, "freeloading."  
  
"You're not freeloading, Ranma. You're a *friend*, who's being  
helped through a rough time by your *freind*. Okay?"  
  
Ranma nodded. "Thanks, Megumi. I'll... owe you one."  
  
Megumi smiled and patted his shoulder. "That's what friends do,  
Ranma. They help each other. There no 'owe' to it. I'd like to think  
you're a nice enough guy that you'd help me out if I needed it if I had  
never seen you before in my life. For me, that's enough."  
  
Ranma smiled and hesitantly nodded. "Okay, I can live with that."  
Still, Ranma felt the need to repay her kindness, "Hey, do you think  
you'd like a martial arts lesson sometime?"  
  
"Sure!" Megumi tousled his hair and walked back through the  
bathroom into her own room. "Goodnight, Ranma."  
  
"'Night, Megumi."  
  
Things were looking up, Ranma thought as he did his before-bed  
katas. He had a refrigerator full of food, a loaned futon and a  
television that was currently playing his favorite movie, and most  
importantly, an honest, kind *friend*.  
  
If he could actually manage to get to class on time tomorrow,  
life would be almost *perfect*.  
  
* * *   
  
Akane slept poorly and woke late. Having slept through her alarm,  
she skipped breakfast and ran for the train that would take her to  
school.  
  
Much to her chagrin, the train was delayed several times and by  
the time she made it to campus, it was already lunchtime.  
  
Akane *usually* ate with Ranma. Still, her drama class wouldn't  
start for another hour and she did skip breakfast.  
  
Akane ordered a burger and fries from the fast food concession in  
the student union and made her way to her usual eating place.  
  
She nearly dropped her tray when she saw Ranma.  
  
He was there already with a beefbowl and a glass of cold tea.  
Next to him, in Akane's usual spot, was another girl.  
  
"Why that Casanova! He's gone for a day and has already picked up  
another girlfriend. That pervert!"  
  
Akane wanted to scream and throw her plate at Ranma but Kasumi's  
words came back to her. She *refused* to lose her temper again for  
something that baka did. She would go over and kindly ask him what he  
was doing and who his newest hussy was.  
  
*No! I'm already doing it!* Akane rolled her head back and tried  
to calm herself so that she could confront Ranma. Nervously, and a  
little anxiously, she made her way over to her ex-fiancee.  
  
Ranma jerked as he saw her, nearly spitting out a mouthful of  
beefbowl.  
  
"Hello, Ranma."  
  
The girl smiled broadly and waved at Akane.  
  
"Oh, you must be Akane! Ranma's told me all about you. Why don't  
you have lunch with us?"  
  
Akane's angry gaze bore a hole into Ranma's but she sat down  
across from him and the strange girl.  
  
"Who's your *friend*, Ranma?" she asked coldly.  
  
"Uhh, this is Megumi. We share a bath." Ranma smiled at the quick  
explanation, but then realized what he had said. *Kuso...* He thought  
to himself, as he closed his eyes in preparation for the inevitable  
mallet strike.  
  
Megumi saved him. She pulled out a diagram of the suite and  
pointed out the architectural peculiarities to Akane.  
  
"...So we have to be really careful not to walk in on each other.  
It seems to work fairly well for most of the other tenants."  
  
"I... see." Akane studied the diagram intensely for a few  
seconds. "So, your rent is reasonable?"  
  
Megumi nodded as Ranma prayed in thanks.  
  
Ranma pulled the contract out of his pocket and handed it to  
Akane. "It's pretty cheap. They're trying to get new renters, so I got  
a special deal. Mom's helpin' me out until I find a job."  
  
"Um-hmm". Akane's expression became troubled as she studied the  
contract. "This is a six-month contract."  
  
"Yeah. I coulda got a year, but I don't wanna be stuck with it if  
I end up not likin' it."  
  
Megumi stood up and lifted her tray. "Well, *I* like it. Bye,  
Ranma; I've got to get to class. It was nice to meet you, Akane!" She  
strode off towards the cafeteria entrance.  
  
Akane let her finger rest on the expiration date. "So this means  
you have to live there the whole six months."  
  
"Yup. Should be 'bout Christmas."  
  
"What if you want to come home?" Akane asked, almost desperately.  
  
Ranma allowed his eyes to dip down to the table. "I ain't goin'  
back. Not ever."  
  
"But--"  
  
Ranma shushed her and clasped his hands together on the table.  
"No buts, Akane. I've had enough of havin' my life lived for me. I'm  
gonna make my own decisions and I'm gonna run my own life. If Oyaji or  
Tendou don't like that, tough."  
  
"What if I--" Akane began to feel the tears pricking behind her  
eyelids again. She breathed in sharply to try to control herself.  
  
Ranma leaned back in his chair. "What?"  
  
"Can I see your apartment?"  
  
His eyes widened briefly, but then darkened and flashed. "Maybe  
some other time, Akane."  
  
A tear wound its way down her cheek. "You don't want me to see  
it."  
  
"Hey! I didn't say that!"  
  
"No, but you meant it. Why don't you want me to see your room?"  
  
Ranma's eyes narrowed in anger. "'Cause I'll say somthin' stupid  
about my room or Megumi or you, an' you'll hit me, an everything I  
wanted to get away from is gonna come right back home." He crossed his  
arms. "I'm sick of the crap, the fightin' cause no one listens, of  
havin' eighteen fiancees an not asking for any of them, of havin'  
Ryouga wake me up with a punch, drugs or worse in my food. I can't... I  
*will not* take it any more. If I'm gonna be engaged, it'll be because  
I'm in love, not because Oyaji ran out on a restaurant bill. Got  
that?"  
  
Tears streamed openly down Akane's face as his words crashed down  
on her. He *hated* her! How could she...  
  
"iwon'thit..." She murmured.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I... I won't hit you anymore, Ranma. Please believe me."  
  
Ranma's angry expression suddenly became uncertain. He thought he  
would be able to stand up to her when she started crying.  
  
"Please, please don't hate me..."  
  
"Akane?" He felt a funny feeling in his chest as she folded her  
face into her hands.  
  
"Please don't hate me, Ranma..."  
  
"Okay," Ranma hesitated for a second, but his defenses fell  
against the onslaught of Akane's tears. "But you gotta promise that  
*nobody* finds out where I live. Not your family, not my dad, not Ukyou  
or Shampoo, and especially not Ryouga, Okay?"  
  
Akane lifted her head in wonder. Tears still ran down her face,  
but hope sparked somewhere in her throat.  
  
"Ranma? You don't hate me?"  
  
"Nah, 'course I don't hate you. Just leave the mallet alone for  
while, okay? Just gimme a chance to explain when I goof up."  
  
Akane wiped the tears from her eyes and anxiously nodded. "I'll  
try. Will you..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Will you try not to insult me?"  
  
A broad smile broke across Ranma's face. "Who am I gonna joke  
with if I can't tease my favorite tomboy?"  
  
"Ranma..."  
  
"Okay, okay. I got class at two, and I was gonna go ho-- back to  
the apartment after that. Is that gonna be alright?"  
  
* * *  
  
"Tadaima!"  
  
Kasumi watched Akane come in the door from her vantage behind the  
kitchen counter. "Did you have a nice day at school, Akane-chan?"  
  
Akane nodded happily and skipped into the living room.  
  
Kasumi smiled knowingly. Akane had made up with Ranma. There was  
hope yet.  
  
A smirk crossed her face as she heard her father and Uncle  
Saotome rush in to the room to question her sister.  
  
"Did you see that worthless son of mine today?" Genma asked in an  
angry voice. Uncle Saotome had been *very* upset when Ranma hadn't  
returned for dinner or bed the previous evening.  
  
Kasumi could almost hear Akane mentally shift gears.  
  
"Yes, where is Ranma, Daughter?"  
  
Her voice, cold and shrill, sounded out against the pleas of the  
older men.  
  
"He wouldn't tell me. You know how stubborn he is."  
  
Lie.  
  
Genma grunted, "Did you talk to him at all?"  
  
"Briefly. He didn't say much at all."  
  
Lie. Acting class was such a good influence on Akane. It did  
wonders for her temper.  
  
"Daughter, you must tell us what he's doing, and who he's with!"  
  
"If you must know, Ranma has already found another girl and is  
living with her. Some son, *Uncle* Saotome."  
  
Kasumi's eyes widened in shock. Akane's voice betrayed some truth  
in her last statement. Still, the girl was so happy... She decided it  
must have been creative exaggeration on Akane's part. If he was in a  
coed apartment or dormitory, he could very well live near female  
students. That would usually still be enough to set her little sister  
off, though.  
  
*Is little Akane growing up? I wonder,* The situation merited  
further examination.  
  
Kasumi smiled and prepared dinner.  
  
All through the meal, Akane kept shooting nasty glances at both  
her father and Uncle Saotome. Still, Kasumi caught the corners of her  
mouth turning up more than once.  
  
After Akane had gone to bed, Kasumi knocked softly on her door  
and crept into her sister's room.  
  
"Onee-chan?"  
  
"I see that you made up with Ranma today." Kasumi sat down next  
to her sister and adjusted the sheets around her.  
  
Akane nodded in the darkness.  
  
"Is he really living with another girl?"  
  
Akane laughed quietly. "They 'share a bath'," she quoted.  
  
"Akane?!?!"  
  
Akane smiled and explained the living arrangements.  
  
"What did he have to say to you, then?"  
  
"It's really funny, Kasumi. He never did take back what he said  
yesterday, but he's never treated me nicer."  
  
"So the engagement is still off?"   
  
Akane nodded. "I think so. At least... until Ranma says so.  
I'm..."  
  
"Frightened?" Kasumi wrapped her arm around the suddenly  
shivering girl.  
  
"Yeah. A little. He's not there for me all the time, anymore, but  
his eyes... They seem so alive now! He's happy... and I think I am  
too."  
  
"Do you still love him?"  
  
"I DO NOT LOVE THAT BA--" Akane faltered. "I... I-I... yes. I  
do."  
  
"Does he love you back?"  
  
"I-I'm not sure. He says he didn't hate me..."  
  
"That's a good start." Kasumi pointed out at the stars. "If he's  
still willing to be your friend, you can still win him, Akane."  
  
"Even with all the other girls?"   
  
Kasumi nodded. "You have the advantage now. You know where he  
lives and they don't."  
  
Akane grimaced.  
  
"What is it, little sister?"  
  
"It's just that... He's so alone. He doesn't really have anything  
but a television and a refrigerator."  
  
"I've already put together a care package. It's behind the dojo  
for when you go to school tomorrow."  
  
* * *  
  
P-chan left just after dinner. He finally found a bathhouse  
around nine, and changed back. He wasn't doing Akane any good by being  
there, and he knew it. There was only one reason why she was in pain,  
and there was only one cure.  
  
This was all Ranma's fault, and he must die for tormenting Akane.  
  
Ryouga growled and ran off into the night in search of his  
nemesis, completely unaware of the tall, grey building next to the  
bathhouse.  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
Author's notes:  
  
First, a big thanks to Dave Eddy for prereading!  
  
Second, this is intended to be a standalone story. While I feel  
like I have left room for a sequel, I'm not sure if I want to  
write one right now.  
  
I'm sure all of you caught who the guest star was. While I had  
fun doing it, This is really not intended to be a crossover  
story... Although I could be persuaded.  
  
I hope you enjoyed it.  
  
Author's Notes 10-07-2000 :  
  
Standalone story? HA! Somethin' like that. Not a crossover? HA!  
  
I just finished the draft for 'Storms' and thought that it would be  
nice to go in and make a few minor revisions to this guy before I  
posted 'Storms' to the FFML and my web page. It let me see just how far  
the story has come. (The stories do tend to take on a life of their  
own...)  
  
* * *  
C. Jones  
http://www.furinkan.net  
  
Watashi ha ultra-relakusu!  
  
  
  
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	2. Curses

This and all my other fanfiction is available at  
http://www.furinkan.net  
  
From ffml-bounce@fanfic.com Mon Oct 9 12:43:14 2000  
  
Ohayo, minna!  
  
Here's the second part of 'Ranma's Apartment'. It looks like   
everything's on track for a Friday release of RA4. (Thanks for all   
the corrections, Vincent!) Along with Vincent, I'd like to thank   
everyone else who wrote about Ranma's Apartment, too.  
  
Now for the good part:  
  
----------------------------------------  
Ranma's Apartment: 2 - Curses  
  
a Ranma 1/2 - Aa! Megami-sama Fanstory  
by Chris Jones  
  
revised 10-09-2000  
----------------------------------------  
  
Genma Saotome woke with the sun as he always had for as long as  
he could remember. He stood, letting the blankets slide off of his  
immense furred belly and stretched several times to work the kinks  
out of his muscles.  
  
He pulled his gi out, and laid it on the dresser beaureu along  
with a light colored bandanna. Gathering those, and his bath things  
together, he made his way through the narrow hall and down the  
stairway to the bathroom. Several minutes later, he emerged clean and  
human, and ready for his morning sparring session for his son, just  
like he always had for as long as he had had Ranma.  
  
But Ranma wasn't in the guest room, and hadn't been for over a  
month.  
  
It just wasn't the same. Genma sighed and went down to  
breakfast.  
  
Kasumi had made a lovely combination of rice, misu, and baked  
fish. He ate with relish, but wasn't able to finish what was on his  
plate. He hadn't for several days now. It just wasn't the same  
without Ranma. He breifly considered snagging a slice of pickled  
daikon from Tendou-kun's plate, just for fun. The fatherly martial  
artist was buried deep in his paper, however, and wouldn't even  
notice the theft.  
  
Genma sighed and ate one last slice of his own pickle. "Say,  
Tendou-kun, how do you feel about going to the park to play shogi  
today?"  
  
"Mmm..." Soun nodded and turned a page in the paper. "Rice is  
up again. Amazing how well the economy is doing after such  
depression."  
  
"Father, Uncle Saotome, are you done?"  
  
Genma sighed and nodded as Kasumi took his plate.  
  
"Hey, everybody, how do I look?"  
  
It was Akane. Genma sighed as he took in her outfit. As she had  
most days since Ranma left, she wore black. Today it was a black  
leotard and tights with a short black skirt. She said she was  
'mourning her engagement'. It was obvious however, that she had  
already given up on his son and moved on to greener pastures. She was  
gone until nine or later every night, "Studying," she always said.  
  
He had also accidentally overheard once how her new boyfriend  
liked her in black.  
  
"Akane!" Kasumi exclaimed, "Your hair!" Apparently, the young  
man also liked very short hair, because now, Akane's hair was only  
about five or six inches long, carefully arranged in a very  
fashionable page boy style. What kind of boy liked short hair on a  
girl?  
  
"I got up early and went to the stylist. How does it look?"  
  
Nabiki sleepily gave her sister a 'thumbs up' and went back to  
her homework. Kasumi set Genma's dirty plate back down and fussed  
over Akane's hair for several minutes. It was a very attractive  
style, but far too daring for the eldest girl's taste.  
  
Within an hour, all three girls had left. Kasumi went to the  
market and both her sisters boarded a train for their school.  
  
Soun continued to read the paper. Genma walked into the kitchen  
and poured a cup of cold water over his head.  
  
Shambling out into the living room, he turned on the small  
television and stared at a gameshow.  
  
*There's no dwelling on the past,* he told himself. You went on  
from day to day, and fought for what you know is right. Right?  
  
No, things just weren't the same.  
  
* * *  
  
Tofuu Ono stood in front of the jewelry store window gazing at  
the myriad of junk jewelry, and the few precious items locked into a  
plexiglass box. When he dared to go so far as the entrance of the  
store, he could see several more of the long, gilded display  
cabinets.  
  
He kept telling himself that his future lay in one of those  
cabinets, but he just couldn't bring himself to open the door and  
walk inside.  
  
*I must look like a criminal,* he thought, *casing out the  
target for a robbery.* He paced back and forth in front of the store,  
avoiding making eye contact with its patrons and employees. Once, he  
even went so far as to walk around the block. Telling himself that he  
should just give up only made him frustrated. Within minutes, he was  
back in front of the doorway. Cautiously, as if he were to be shot  
for a wrong step, he opened the glass door and stepped inside.  
  
* * *  
  
Ranma was having a difficult time concentrating on his  
psychology class. It wasn't that he had an easy time in *any* of his  
classes, but he was having an exceptionally difficult time today.  
  
It started with a bit of homesickness earlier that morning.  
Ranma had never really had any home other than the Tendou house. He  
could barely remember the place he lived in with his parents before  
the training trip, and any place he stayed with his father since was  
only temporary.  
  
Ranma found that he missed the early morning bustle of the  
Tendou home. Sparring with his father every morning, the loud,  
sometimes violent conversation over breakfast, and running to school  
or the train station with Akane every morning.  
  
Since he had moved out a month ago, all that was a thing of the  
past. True, he saw Akane every day, but he had actually managed to  
avoid all his enemies for the entire month. Life was becoming...  
peaceful.  
  
Peace was nice but it was hell if you were trying to stay in  
shape. Ranma felt like he was losing his tone. He still made every  
step a balance excercise, just the way Oyaji had taught him when he  
was six, he still did more calesthenics every morning than the most  
rabid soldier, and he still participated in every contest he could  
find. He rapidly found that without constant challenge from martial  
artists of his own level or above, like Ryouga or Happosai, he was  
losing his razor edge.  
  
*Maybe I should hunt down Pig-boy and pick a fight,* He thought  
as the professor drew a diagram on the blackboard. *Maybe make a  
delivery order from the Nekohanten, and see what happens?* Ranma  
smiled as he considered the chain reaction explosion of violence that  
would happen if all his fiancees and enemies actually managed to  
track him down.  
  
He missed the end of class in his reverie. He noticed the other  
students filing past him, and leapt up to join them.  
  
Suddenly, he didn't have time to worry about his skill level  
anymore. Today was the first day of his new job, and he had to be  
there in an hour.  
  
It wasn't martial arts, but it was something that he had  
experience in, and considered himself skilled at.  
  
* * *  
  
Tofuu stared intensely at the selections of rings. He had to  
select one, and he knew it. Every time he thought of the person he  
wanted to give it to...  
  
"Kasumi!"  
  
The clerk looked at the odd man who was browsing her jewelry  
display. He had been there for hours, ever since the beginning of her  
shift. Every few minutes, his glasses would fog over and he would  
shout that same name.  
  
Finally, the man pointed at one, seemingly at random, and  
gestured to the clerk. After taking it out of the case and handing to  
him for closer inspection, she noticed that he held it like it was  
about to explode. After a few seconds of careful examination, he  
gingerly placed it backed on the counter in front of her.  
  
"Is this the one you want?"  
  
The man nodded maniacly. He looked like he was on drugs.  
  
With some interest, she noted that it was one of the most  
expensive rings in the display. The man had taste. He also was only  
wearing a simple martial artist's gi. The kind of people who usually  
bought that kind of ring came into her store wearing expensive suits,  
and frequently had a limousine waiting just outside.  
  
"With tax, this ring comes to 319,000 yen," she said, worrying  
that the man might not be able to pay.  
  
Still smiling that same insane grin, the man pulled several  
items out of his pocket. His house keys, wallet, a plastic finger  
bone, two buttons, a business card--  
  
*Hmm... Tofuu Ono, Chiropractice and Shiatsu. Man's a doctor.  
Looks like I make my commision today!*  
  
-- a prescription tablet, a worn paperback novel, a  
stethoscope, and thirty two 10,000 yen bills.  
  
The clerk quickly rang up the sale in case the frazzled doctor  
started wandering the shop again. "All set! Engraving is free with  
purchase. Is there anything you want on the ring?"  
  
The man's expression became terrified, but quickly manic again  
as he pulled out a piece of paper.  
  
The clerk read the paper, and almost started to cry. "To my  
dearest Kasumi. I love you, and always have. Please be my wife."  
  
"Ah, honey, this is just a little long to put inside one ring.  
Can you shorten it?"  
  
"Ah... Ah... I love you, Kasumi. Marry me?"  
  
The girl smiled and went to work while the doctor sat down on  
the floor and nervously began to pull up tile.  
  
* * *  
  
Megumi pondered her English homework over laundry. Laundry day  
was the time she sat aside each week to do her non-engineering  
homework, and she had plenty of it.  
  
*ding*  
  
The dryer politely informed her that her clothes were warm, and  
hopefully dry. She piled the mass of clothes into a plastic basket,  
and made for the elevator that would take her back to her floor.  
*Another load, another lesson,* she thought sarcasticly.  
  
When she reached the fifth floor, she spied a buxom redhead  
coming in from the stairwell. The girl was wearing a waitress  
uniform, a frilly white blouse, a short red skirt, and red pumps. She  
seemed tired, as if she had just worked a full shift, which Megumi  
reasoned was probably the case.  
  
Megumi picked up a basket of laundry from just inside her door,  
and started back for the laundry room. As Megumi turned to go back  
down the elevator, the girl waved and smiled wanly at her and let  
herself inside an apartment.  
  
Megumi smiled back. It must have been a new tennant.  
  
Then, as the door closed, Megumi realized what was wrong. That  
was *Ranma's* room!  
  
She scampered back for her own room and grabbed a new handlebar  
she had bought for her brother's motorcycle.  
  
Several possibilities ran through her mind. The way the girl  
was dressed could mean any of a dozen things. The two that seemed the  
most likely were that the woman was a thief masquerading as a  
delivery girl or she was one of the *other* fiancees.  
  
Her eyes narrowed at the thought of the martial aritist  
cheating on Akane. More than likely, the girl had tracked Ranma down  
and was laying in wait for him, but Megumi had become good friends  
with the drama student, and would be most displeased with her suite-  
mate if he were to toss her over.  
  
She decided on a simple course of action. She would walk in  
with the handlebar behind her back, kindly ask what the girl was  
doing there, and chase her from the apartment with the steel bar.  
  
Nervously, she made her move. She darted in through the shared  
bathroom and stepped out into Ranma's room.  
  
"Oh, hi, Megumi. 'Sup?" The girl was sprawled out on Ranma's  
futon, reading a manga. She had kicked her shoes off, and was  
absently rubbing her stocking feet together. "How'd you do on your  
test today?"  
  
"Huh?" How did the girl know that she had taken a test today?  
For that matter, how did the girl know her name? "Who are you and  
what are you doing in here?" Megumi considered bringing the handlebar  
to bear, but decided to hold back in case the hussy was armed.  
  
"I live h... Oh. Hell, this looks awful, don't it?" The girl  
smiled up at Megumi in what she assumed was meant to be a reassuring  
fashion. "I can explain, really!"  
  
"You better explain, or I'm going to make you wish you had!"  
  
"Megumi, now..."  
  
"Don't you 'now' me, Miss. Start talking!  
  
"Okay. First, bring me a glass of hot water. Then I'll explain  
everything." The girl cautiously stood to her full height. Megumi got  
her first real look at her. She was about a hundred and sixty  
centimeters tall, with flaming red hair and a slightly pouty  
expression. She stood casually, with her hands on her hips like a  
boy. While the girl appeared to be rather soft skinned, Megumi noted  
a certain tenseness at her joints. With a sinking feeling she  
remembered that all of Ranma's fiancees were skilled martial artists.  
Megumi began to feel her grip on the handlebar loosen.  
  
"Hot water?" She asked nervously.  
  
The red head nodded.  
  
Carefully keeping the girl in front of her, Megumi filled a cup  
with warm water from the sink. She looked away for a second to turn  
the faucet off, and when she looked back the girl had stripped off  
her blouse, and was preparing to drop her skirt as well.  
  
"Pervert! What do you think you're doing?" Without thinking,  
Megumi brought the handlebar to bear against the girl.  
  
Without so much as a breath, the girl's hand whipped out and  
snatched handlebar away from her. "C'mon, Megumi. I ain't gonna hurt  
you or nuthin'. Okay?"  
  
Megumi started to tremble as the girl pulled her skirt down.  
Oddly enough, the girl was wearing boxer shorts and a man's  
undershirt under her uniform.  
  
"Here, lemme have that and..." The girl took the full cup from  
her and upended it over her head.  
  
"Viola!" said Ranma as he rose to his full height.  
  
Megumi fainted.  
  
* * *  
  
Genma watched the Tendous prepare for an outing the next day.  
The weather was starting to turn colder, so this would be the last  
chance they would get to go to the beach this year.  
  
They had asked him to come, but he really didn't feel much like  
it. It was too hot, wet fur wasn't all that comfortable, and  
sunscreen always turned his white fur to an odd shade of green.  
Besides, Ranma wouldn't be there so there would be little opportunity  
to train.  
  
He sighed and went back to his gameshow.  
  
Kasumi smiled as she polished the table and looked out the back  
at the sky above. The moon and stars were just starting to come out.  
They were so beautiful, just like glittering diamonds.  
  
Nabiki and Akane both came down the stairs in bikinis. Nabiki's  
was a bright red color, with lace trim. It looked a little much like  
lingerie for Kasumi's taste, but she smiled her approval. Akane's was  
of course, black. Kasumi worried a bit about her sister's sudden  
change of wardrobe, but apparently Ranma, and more importantly Akane,  
were happy with it. They were trying so hard to be nice to each  
other. The dark swimsuit really did go well with her new hairstyle as  
well. She wondered in the back of her mind if her sister had invited  
Ranma. Dismissing the thought, she saw Akane glance at the clock  
hanging behind her.  
  
Akane's expression became a bit worried, and a little expectant  
as she noted the time. Kasumi watched her little sister run up the  
stairs. A few minutes later, she came down dressed in the leotard and  
skirt she wore to school. Picking up her bookbag, she ran out the  
door.  
  
"Where is she going?" Nabiki wondered aloud.  
  
"To study, of course," Kasumi answered cheerily. She grinned at  
the petulant expresion on Nabiki's face.  
  
"Please!"  
  
Ranma's departure had deprived her sister of her favorite  
source of spending money. On top of that insult, She hadn't been able  
to locate the martial artist when he wasn't at school, and couldn't  
find out who Akane's 'new boyfriend' was either. Nabiki had been left  
out of the loop, and was not happy about the situation. Someone would  
have to pay. If nothing else, her ongoing investigation was getting  
expenseive.  
  
"What Akane does is her own business, Nabiki. She's an adult  
now, you know."  
  
"I don't buy it, Sis. She's up to something and you know it!"  
  
"Akane's just maturing. You should respect that, Nabiki."  
  
In their discussion, neither girl heard the nervous doctor  
pacing back and forth in front of the dojo walls.  
  
* * *  
  
"It has to be a trick! You're an escape artist, or you have a  
sister who knows..."  
  
Ranma dumped the cup of cool water over his head. Almost  
instantaneously, his tall, masculine form was replaced by that of the  
young, redheaded beauty. She was had on the same wet undershirt and  
boxers Ranma was just wearing, and was adjusting the drawstring.  
  
Megumi heard a low moan come out of her throat. "This is  
impossible!"  
  
"If only it were," the redhead answered sadly.  
  
"What...?"  
  
"I been stuck like this for almost four years. I've kinda had  
to accept it."  
  
"Who... are you?"  
  
"Ranma. Who else. This is just my cursed form... you see--"  
  
"CURSED FORM?!?!" Megumi shouted. "MAGIC?!?! IMPOSSIBLE!!!!"  
  
"You all ready said that.  
  
"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!"  
  
Ranma shrugged in response. "Megumi--"  
  
"I mean, it violates every physical law there is! You can't  
just make thirty or forty kilograms dissapear that way!! What about  
Conservation of Mass?! What about the first law of Thermodynamics?!"  
  
"Megumi--"  
  
"You can't expect me to just believe in 'magic' like some fairy  
tale! It's insane!"  
  
"Tell me about it. I don't know about all the physics or  
chemistry or biology. I just know it happens. The only way I have to  
explain it is 'magic'." She poured another cup of warm water over to  
punctuate her statement.  
  
Megumi was about to protest further, but the sad look on his  
face halted her speech. "This is somehow your father's fault, isn't  
it?"  
  
Ranma smiled sardonically and nodded. "Bingo. It was about  
three and a half years ago, at the tail end of my trainin' trip. Old  
man had been looking for this mystic trainin' ground most of his  
life, so when we found it, he didn't bother to read the signs, or  
even listen to the guide. Just started fightin' over those damned  
pools. He got Chaunmauniichaun, Spring of drowned panda. He gets  
wet..."  
  
"He turns into a panda bear. And you have...?"  
  
"Nyaniichaun."  
  
"Spring of drowned girl."  
  
Ranma nodded. "Yup, so anytime I get wet, I change."  
  
To demonstrate, Ranma poured a cup cold water over himself.  
  
*Herself,* Megumi corrected. "I... don't--"  
  
As if to cooberate his story, Akane let herself in and sat down  
next to the red head as if nothing were out of the normal. She looked  
as if she had been running.  
  
"Hi, Ranma!"  
  
"Yo, Akane. WOW! You get a haircut?!"  
  
Akane's slim hand went to the short, delicate, sweeping lengths  
of hair that now framed her face. "Do you like it? It's like that  
hairstyle I showed you in the magazine last week."  
  
Ranma nodded. "It looks great. What'd Kasumi say?"  
  
"She was a little shocked but I think she likes it."  
  
Ranma nodded. "Sounds about right. How was the train ride?"  
  
Almost experimentally, Megumi poured some warm water over Ranma  
to gauge Akane's reaction.  
  
Akane puffed a little. "I ran into Mousse on the train. I led  
him back over to the high school. So far as I can tell, none of them  
have even looked at this place yet."  
  
Akane didn't so much as blink as Ranma shifted size and shape.  
  
"How was rehersal?" Ranma asked.  
  
Feeling a little more relaxed, Akane ran her fingers through  
her short hair, and stretched. "Same-old same-old. I think I'm going  
to pound that sexist old creep, Miramora, if he doesn't quit treating  
me like a moron. He directs like he's doing a first grade play."  
  
Megumi's jaw dropped open in shock. "This is absolutely normal  
for you people, isn't it?"  
  
"What?" Akane looked at her in baffelment.  
  
Megumi poured another cup of cool water over the martial  
artist. Akane shook her head but finally she got it. "Oh. She just  
found out about the curse, didn't she?"  
  
Ranma nodded, and returned to her manga.  
  
In bemusement, Megumi entertained herself with a bucket of cold  
water and a warm kettle. Ranma was obviously a little irratated, but  
he bore the brunt of her bemused inspection with grace.  
  
What really fascinated her was Akane's reaction to her  
suitemate. She was able to treat the male Ranma completely the same  
as the female. In fact, when she doused Ranma in the middle of a  
sentance, Akane didn't bat so much as an eyelash as Ranma's voice  
shifted octaves.  
  
*What could be weirder?* she thought.  
  
Ranma and Akane spent about an hour discussing what had  
happened during the day at school. It was somthing that they did by  
unspoken agreement to try and relieve their respective short tempers.  
By venting about classmates and teachers, they managed to avoid  
venting on each other.  
  
Another facet of their conversation was that they did not  
mention any of their rivals. Ranma's fiancees and Akane's suitors  
were not discussed. Akane found that it was much easier to keep her  
temper this way, and Ranma found that he had time to think about what  
he wanted to say because he was much less defensive.  
  
"So why's Yuki got the role if she can't do it right?" Ranma  
asked.  
  
*splash* Megumi poured cold water over her suitemate, trying to  
examine exactly what was happening in a sickened manner. Ranma's body  
merely flinched away from her. During the 'flinch' Ranma's skin grew  
slightly paler, and the golden-copper highlights in his black hair  
spread and shifted so that the entire mop was a bright scarlet.  
  
"The director has the hots for her, that's why!" Akane drew a  
doodle of a man being impaled with a megaphone in her notebook.  
"Seriously, Ranma. If you heard *half* the rumours about this guy..."  
  
"Hmmm... I have a pretty bad time with rumours myself, Akane.  
You never know, the guy might just have a bad rep."  
  
"I would be willing to beleive that if he wasn't such an ass. I  
swear, he's even made a pass at me a few times!"  
  
Megumi was fairly amused by the fact that Ranma, as a girl,  
became quite defensive about Akane's statement. The redhead sat up  
from her sprawl and loomed over Akane.  
  
"Maybe I should go have a talk with this guy..."  
  
Akane's eyes flashed, as did Ranma's. Something unsaid passed  
between them, and Akane changed the subject. It was just too close to  
their sore points.  
  
"So, Ranma, are you having any trouble with the workout  
facilites?"  
  
*splash* The warm kettle did exactly the opposite of the  
bucket. Ranma's body seemed to relax into its larger, more defined  
state. His hair darkened as if the light were simply falling into it.  
  
Megumi considered borrowing the kinetics department's high  
speed camera to capture the transformation.  
  
Ranma shook his head and settled back onto the futon. "Nah. I  
was worried the managers would think I was being too rough on the  
martial arts equipment, but nobody's complained. I think I'm startin'  
to get some of the other tennants interested in martial arts."  
  
Megumi did her best to sifle a giggle. The other tennants were  
'interested', all right. Ranma didn't really understand, but the  
audience to his morning workout was composed mostly of girls who got  
an illicit thrill out of watching the well-built martial artist  
excercise. She had even been invited once to the early morning  
'Beefcake Revue' by one of her friends in the building. If only they  
knew!  
  
"You know your father complains every morning that you're not  
getting a proper workout becuase you're not there to spar with him,"  
Akane said.  
  
*splash* Yes! Megumi would classify the transformation. She  
would work the equations and clarify the situation until the 'curse'  
was no longer a work of magic, but a scientific phenomenon.  
  
Ranma nodded, "Thought so. Old man's just lonely for a fight.  
That's all."  
  
"What about you, Ranma? Don't you miss it, too?"  
  
Ranma grimaced. "Not for a second."  
  
Akane knew better. Ranma jumped if someone in the next room  
said 'fight'. He was bored and lonely and she knew it.  
  
"Come on, Ranma. Who have you been sparring with every morning,  
if not your father? When was the last time you practiced the 'Moukou  
Takabisha'?"  
  
Ranma's scowl intensified. "Can we talk about something else?"  
  
Akane quickly tried to find something else to talk about. This  
kind of conversation quickly led to an insult or a malleting. She  
nodded in agreement. This was another one of their unspoken rules. An  
uncomfortable silence fell across the room.  
  
"Umm," Megumi interupted. "What's that?"  
  
"What?" Ranma and Akane answered simulataneously.  
  
"The... Moukyo Taka-thingy."  
  
"Oh," Ranma grinned evilly at Akane. "That. It's a ki attack. I  
focus my strength and confidence--"  
  
"You mean 'ego'," Akane corrected. Ranma scowled, but held his  
hands together in demonstration. He concentrated for a second and a  
small, reddish-gold ball of fire sprang to life between his palms.  
  
More magic. Megumi 'eeped' and did her best to keep the room  
from spinning around her.  
  
"So, how's waitressing?" Akane asked.  
  
* * *  
  
It was rapidly approaching nine when Tofuu summoned up the  
courage to walk up to the door. Confidently, he thought, he danced up  
the doorway. These things were always so much easier when Betty was  
there to help him along, but unfortunately, she was back at the  
clinic on her hook.  
  
Tofuu threw his head back, and pulled out the small black ring  
box in preparation. He raised his hand to knock...  
  
A sparrow darted across the walk to the house. Tofuu bolted in  
terror.  
  
* * *  
  
With her knees pulled up to her chest on the seat, Akane  
thought wistfully back to Ranma's room. After several minutes of  
playing with Ranma's curse and muttering to herself about 'scientific  
explanations', Megumi stumbled back into her own room as if she were  
in a drug induced trance. Akane felt rather sorry for the girl to  
have her sensible foundations so horribly rocked. All they could  
really do was try to lessen the shock for her.  
  
Ranma went into the girl's room and asked her if she would like  
to call him 'Ranko' when he was in his cursed form. Megumi accepted  
almost a little too quickly.  
  
Akane had to admit that she was still a little jealous of  
Megumi being so close to Ranma all the time. Still, Akane worried  
about the girl.  
  
Once Megumi left, however, she and Ranma...  
  
It was their third serious kiss. Like the two previous  
encounters, it was a good night kiss.  
  
The first had been quick and nervous, at the train station on  
her way home. The second was a little more lingering, but still  
fairly shy on all accounts. The third...  
  
The lights were low in the apartment. Ranma only ever had a few  
lamps on at night to save on electricity. They sat together and  
watched television for several minutes. After a while, Akane stood up  
and began to gather her books. Ranma watched her from his postition  
on the floor. Selfconciously, Akane turned so that she presented her  
profile to him. Torn between feelings of embarassment and excitement,  
Akane arched her back slightly.  
  
She heard a sharp intake of breath as she stretched out. Out of  
the corner of her eye, she could see Ranma's eyes following the curve  
of her leg and buttocks. They rested for an interminable time on her  
breasts, which were small in her opinion, but barely concealed  
beneath the trim leotard. Finally, Ranma stared at her face. Akane  
turned her neck slightly, trying to present a longer, more attractive  
figure.  
  
Only a few months ago, she would have pounded him for such a  
perverted act, but now it was... important to her that he want look  
at her body.  
  
"I really like your hair, Akane." He stood, his torso turned so  
that he could open the door for her.  
  
Akane smiled, faintly, but warmly, and leaned in close to the  
martial artist. "Thanks, Ranma. I'm glad you like it. I was so afraid  
that it would turn out badly."  
  
Ranma shook his head forcefully.  
  
They stepped over to the door. Ranma looked expectantly into  
her eyes as his trembling hand went for the knob.  
  
Akane's hand covered his, almost of its own volition. She  
leaned in even closer. Ranma's other hand went to her shoulder.  
  
Akane almost moaned in expectation.  
  
Ranma wrapped his impossibly strong arms around her, a little  
more confidently this time, and their lips met. Akane pulled her  
hands up to rest against his broad, muscular chest and returned the  
slight pressure she felt. She could feel him pulling her ever tighter  
to his chest, feeling the countours of her body embedded in his own.  
His hands began to roam down her back, darting as low as, but never  
quite touching her firm derrier.  
  
They were both so terrified of the new, urgent sensations, but  
both needed them so badly. It was so hard to tell when to stop, or  
how far to let it go.  
  
Akane sighed and melted inside all over again as she thought  
back on the brief interlude.  
  
Not wanting to miss her stop for her reverie, Akane pulled out  
a textbook, and tried to study. After several minutes, she gave up  
and began to secretly study the other passengers on the train.  
  
Several of them were 'regulars'. She always seemed to get on at  
the same time with them. There was the red haired cocktail waitress  
who was always just a bit tipsy coming home from work, and the single  
mother who always did her shopping late. Two business men were always  
disscussing the evening paper together, and there was the tired old  
man, who always spent every day at the park.  
  
Oddly, there was a man in a trenchcoat who always sat at the  
back of the train. He never exchanged the cursory greetings the other  
passengers did. At first, she suspected one of Ranma's suitors. He  
never moved very much, so Akane had a difficult time reading him, but  
after careful observation, Akane suspected that he lived with the  
cocktail waitress, or was infatuated with her, because he always sat  
directly behind her if he could.  
  
Besides, if one of *those* people actually managed to track her  
as far as the train, she'd pick a stop at random and just start  
walking.  
  
Her real stop came around. Sighing her longing, she gathered  
her books and made her way for the door.  
  
* * *  
  
Nine-thirty. Tofuu skulked around the bushes in front of the  
Tendou house.  
  
*Maybe it would just be better if I waited until she came to  
the office,* he thought. Resolutely, he shook his head. It had to  
happen to night, or he feared that it never would.  
  
* * *  
  
She was about halfway home from the train station when Akane  
realized that she was being followed. It didn't take much since she  
suspected her pursuers were quite intoxicated. They were making too  
much noise and were bouncing off each other quite rowdily. She turned  
several corners, but they kept trailing after her.  
  
She walked on for about a block, hoping that she could get  
close enough to home that a good sprint would carry her to safety.  
  
Her pursuers, six of them, started walking double time, doing  
their drunken best to act inconspicuous.  
  
Running was not going to be an option, she thought. Akane  
turned and stood her ground. The six men strode up to her and stared  
at her with evil leers.  
  
"Can I help you gentlemen?" She asked indignantly.  
  
The leader, a tall young man with a tatoo on his neck and a lit  
cigarette in his hand, flicked ash on the ground and took a long  
drag. As he exhaled, Akane could smell the sharp reek of alchohol  
combined with tobacco.  
  
"Yeah, you can help us, sweetie. Right guys?"  
  
The assembled ruffians nodded and made low, guttaral  
affirmative noises.  
  
"What do you want?" Akane assessed the men for weapons. The  
leader appeared to be unarmed, but the guy next to him was toying  
with a switchblade knife hanging halfway out of his hip pocket. Aside  
from one other, who was hiding a butterfly knife behind his leg, they  
appeared to be unarmed.  
  
The leader sneered at her. "Why don't we go over in that alley  
and I'll show ya!"  
  
Akane raised her eyebrows. "You've got to be kidding."  
  
The man with the butterfly knife flipped it open and pointed it  
at her stomach. "Just shut up and go in the alley and we won't hurt  
you."  
  
*I'll take that one down first,* she thought, *and then use the  
man in charge as a human sheild. Shouldn't take more than a minute.*  
Akane smiled evilly. "Why don't you make me?"  
  
The man rushed her. Akane tossed her bookbag aside and prepared  
to disarm the attacker.  
  
There was a flash from above, and the six men fell in half as  
many seconds. The man in the trenchcoat stood behind them in a  
fighting stance.  
  
Akane's eyebrows slanted even further. She suddenly knew  
*exactly* who the man was.  
  
"What's the big deal, Ranma? I could have taken them easily.  
Why did you have to stick your nose in my fight?"  
  
"Hey! They had knives! And I'm not Ranma."  
  
Akane pulled the trencoat away from the martial artist. "So  
you've been following me home. Jeez, Ranma I can't beleive this!"  
  
"Hey, I was only trying to look out for you!"  
  
"I don't need any looking out for, Ranma. I've gotten home just  
fine by myself every night for a solid month!"  
  
One of the attackers groaned. Akane kicked his head. "Stay  
down, moron. Just wait for the police and I won't hurt you."  
  
Ranma 'hmphed' and scowled at the girl.  
  
Glaring at him, Akane ran to a nearby pay phone and dialed the  
emergency number. As they sat waiting for the police, no words passed  
between them. Akane just sat and simmered. She had trusted him with  
so much, and now this was the way he repayed her?  
  
When they arrived the police were very thankful to have the six  
thugs so neatly delivered, if a little shamefaced that they had no  
involvement in their capture. After answering a few questions, Akane  
and Ranma were sent on their way. They walked together for quite some  
time.  
  
Unfortuneatly, 'together' had two different connotations for  
Ranma and Akane.  
  
"I can't beleive you, Ranma! Following me like some sort of  
stalker. You're no better than those men back there."  
  
"I *ain't* stalking you, Akane."  
  
"Fine, then what were you doing? Hmmm?"  
  
"Err..."  
  
Akane wrung her hands behind her back. "Don't you think I can  
take care of myself? Is that it?"  
  
"Akane I..."  
  
"You think I'm going to get hurt walking home."  
  
Ranma shrugged. "So, what if I do?"  
  
"Do you have any idea how INSULTING that is?!"  
  
"Hell, Akane! Everyone knows what... No. I ain't gonna say it."  
  
They walked on for a few minutes, turning a corner onto a  
better lit street. There were more people here, going in and out of  
shops and restaurants that were still open. Ranma looked around in a  
kind of sad amusement. So many happy people completely unaware of  
what had just happened.  
  
Akane slowed and looked into a dress shop window. She glanced  
at Ranma's reflection in the glass. "You might as well, if you still  
think so. I'm a slow, weak girl, right?"  
  
Ranma refused to answer. His surly expression betrayed his  
feelings, however.  
  
"You know, if we don't say anything," Akane suggested, "It's  
not going to get any better. We haven't said *anything* for a solid  
month."  
  
"If I say anything, I'm gonna get malleted. Hell, I'll probably  
gonna get malleted for *that*." He stared at her accusingly.  
  
Akane turned away from the window and glared back, the rage  
building behind her eyes. "I promised that I wouldn't hit you  
anymore," she hissed. "Isn't that good enough?"  
  
"Yeah... you promised." Ranma's eyes narrowed to slits. "Just  
like you promised Kasumi that you wouldn't ever hit anybody in  
anger."  
  
The rage and anger left Akane's face, and was replaced by shock  
and shame at the promise she had so casually broken so long ago. She  
tried to tell her self it was meaningless, but a terrified doubt  
began to gnaw at her.  
  
"Didn't think I knew about that one, did ya?" Ranma pushed his  
hands down in his pockets, and resumed walking along the sidewalk.  
Akane strode next to him, her fists clenching in shock and a little  
bit of anger. In truth, she didn't realized Ranma knew about the  
promise she had broken so long ago.  
  
The street was growing much more crowded as they approached a  
large night club.  
  
After a few seconds, Ranma turned back to her, guilt and self  
loathing evident in his expression. "I shouldn't 'a said that,  
Akane."  
  
Akane answered quietly. "But you don't trust me?"  
  
As Ranma shook his head, Akane's heart broke. She continued to  
walk along behind him, but the world seemed to blur around her.  
  
Ranma shrugged, but closed his steps so that he was a little  
closer to her.  
  
They passed the entrance to the club. It was approaching ten  
and getting rather misty, but there was still a long line of  
impatient people awaiting entrance to the club. They were all  
anxious, guarding their places in line, but the majority of them were  
speaking animatedly. The people were all dressed in an attractive  
manner. Most were dressed in their finest party clothes. They seemed  
to be having fun, even waiting in line.  
  
As they passed the end of the line, Ranma glanced briefly at  
the waiting length. He kept walking in disgust.  
  
Akane began to feel a familiar fear rise in her heart. It was  
familiar as the same sensation she felt whenever Ranma acted like he  
was happy with one of the other girls, and when Ranma moved out of  
the Tendou home a month earlier. She was going to lose him...  
  
"Ranma!" She shouted. He was a little shocked to hear her speak  
so passionately. "I've trusted *you* with so much. Why can't you do  
the same? Please, tell me what I have to do to make you trust me!"  
  
Ranma was shocked at the words, and Akane's expression. A  
wealth of tears stood unshead in her eyes.  
  
"You... trust *me*?!?!"  
  
"How can I not, Ranma?" A tear rolled down her face, and her  
tone became pleading, almost desperate. "You've saved my life dozens  
of times. You always come when I'm in trouble. If anybody tries to  
hurt me, you stand up for me. When you moved out, I had to trust you  
to stay away from the other girls. I even had to learn to trust you  
around Megumi! If you weren't there for me..." Her voice dropped to a  
whisper. "I don't know how I could go on."  
  
Ranma was stopped in his tracks. "Akane?" His expression had  
changed to mirror Akane's earlier shock. "I..." He stood resolutely  
and put his fist to his chest. "I barely trust *myself* to take care  
of you, Akane? How can I trust anyone else, even you?"  
  
Akane nodded sadly. She had done so little besides berate her  
fiancee. But... he *wanted* to take care of her. Her heart began to  
ache, and her throat tightened with the thought.  
  
"Sides', I don't think 'trust' is just somethin' you can turn  
on and off like a light. You gotta earn it."  
  
Akane nodded anxiously. "How? Please, what do I have to do?"  
  
Ranma's eyes widened. "Urr..."  
  
"Please, Ranma. I..."  
  
He held up his hand. "It's been a month since you hit me.  
That's a good *start*. I'm still duckin' and coverin' everytime I  
hear myself say somethin' stupid."  
  
Akane's breath caught in her throat. "I... I'm sorry, Ranma."  
  
"I'm sorry too, Akane. I ain't been the most sensitive guy,  
ever, either. I usually call 'em like I see 'em, and sometimes that  
isn't the right thing, or even the true thing to say. I've been  
trying to stop, but sometimes..."  
  
As long as she had known him, Ranma had rarely apologized to  
her. Her eyes misted over, and tears began to run freely down her  
face.  
  
Her heart burst with the words. 'I'm sorry too, Akane.' She  
burned up and froze at the same time. The warm flow of tears started  
to run down into her leotard, as the world ground to a complete stop.  
  
Ranma stepped in a little closer and tried to look into her  
face. Cautiously, he put a hand to her cheek. "Akane? You okay?"  
  
He was so close to her. It was all she needed to hear.  
Regardless of anything else, Ranma still cared about her. The words  
came to her mouth, unbidden.  
  
"I love you, Ranma."  
  
He froze as if she had just uttered some incredible attack  
phrase.  
  
Her arms reached out of their own volition and wrapped around  
his shoulders and head. Feircley, as if she had to trap him to the  
earth, Akane pressed her lips to his.  
  
She covered his face in kisses and buried her wet face in his  
shoulder. Muffled by the coarse fabric, she cried out loud.  
  
"I love you, you mean, insensitive, sex-changing jerk, and I'll  
never give you up. Not to Shampoo, not to Ukyou, not to Kodachi, or  
anyone else!"  
  
"Akane....." Hesitantly, Ranma's arms closed around her back.  
"I... I... don't know.... I loo..."  
  
She looked up into his face, which was twisted into at once an  
expression of the purest excstasy, and the sheerest terror. It looked  
as if he were fighting with himself on some existential plane.  
  
"I... loooooo...."  
  
With the tears still rolling freely down her face, Akane put a  
finger to his lips. "You don't have to say it if you don't want to.  
Don't say it if you don't feel it, either."  
  
His expression was stricken, but resolute. "Of course I mean  
it! I've meant it since... Hell, I don't know! It seems as long as  
I've known you!"  
  
"Ranma..." Akane rested her head on his shoulder. She could  
hear his heart racing. She realized that at some point that they had  
collapsed to their knees on the sidewalk.  
  
"I *love* you, Akane! You're the only thing that's kept me  
goin' for the last three years. With the curse, and the fiancees, and  
the old ghoul, and all the challenges, and the letch..."  
  
She silenced him with another kiss. A long, wet, pasionate kiss  
that messed up his hair as much as his face.  
  
"What're we gonna do, Akane?" he asked. "We still hurt each  
other so much. When we talk we get angry and when we don't nothin'  
happens."  
  
She shook her head against his shoulder. "I don't know, Ranma.  
Whatever... we have to learn to... trust, and we have to do it  
together."  
  
Weeping into each other's arms, neither Ranma nor Akane noticed  
the crowd of party goers and club employees they had drawn applauding  
all around them.  
  
* * *  
  
It was late, *too* late, Megumi thought. The world, which had  
previously been defined in terms of formulae, equations, statistical  
analisys, had just given way to fairy tale.  
  
She lay in her bed, looking up at the flourescent fixture in  
the middle of the ceiling. Her eyes absently traced the end of the  
cord that hung from the light as it danced in the breeze from her  
airconditioner. In the speckles she got from staring at the too-  
bright bulb, Megumi could still see the ball of what could only be  
described as Ranma's life force floating in front of her face.  
  
*Ranma... Ranko... How can s-he live like that?*  
  
She flipped over and buried her face in her pillow. She stayed  
like that for some time, images of Ranma changing back and forth  
assailing her inner vision.  
  
There were so many things to think about. How much of what she  
knew was void now? Curses implied a spellcaster of some sort... or  
worse, a supernatural entity. Demons?  
  
The existence of which would imply Gods and Goddesses. No, that  
was impossible. Everyone knew goddesses didn't exist.  
  
She really didn't realize when she started to shiver. Rain  
began to tap against her window as a cold front blew through, and the  
air conditioner was suddenly too cold..  
  
Megumi sighed and grabbed a vinyl raincoat from her closet. It  
would do her little good to sit in her room slowly going crazy. She  
had to get out and think things through.  
  
*Then* she could go crazy if she wanted.  
  
She hurried out of the building and out into the night. She  
really didn't mind the rain, but Megumi looked for a coffe shop to  
get into anyway.  
  
As she walked, she couldn't help but stare at the people around  
her, wondering. Supposedly at least one of the fiancees and several  
of Ranma's enemies were cursed as well. Megumi couldn't help but  
wonder who else's life had been touched by magic.  
  
After a few minutes, she located the 'Unforgettable Medlies'  
cafe. She went in and took a seat at the bar, and ordered a coffee.  
  
Megumi found that it was all she could do to keep from  
nervously fidgeting all over the counter.  
  
Suddenly, a petite figure flopped down next to her. She jumped  
as she realized who it was.  
  
"Ya learn to hate the rain. Of course, I have it better than  
some of the others."  
  
"T-t-the girl who turns into a cat..." Megumi suggested. She  
couldn't beleive the words coming out of her own mouth.  
  
The redhead plopped her head down on her hands. "Yeah, and then  
there's my *other* problem with... c-cats." She shook nervously a  
bit, and then stretched to try and warm her cold muscles.  
  
"You went home with Akane, ...Ranko?" Megumi asked. She still  
felt fairly nervous speaking to the girl as if she really was her  
suitemate. It rankled a little inside her somewhere though. She tried  
to decide if she wanted to discard 'Ranko' and just stick to 'Ranma'.  
"Did she get home okay?"  
  
Ranma smiled meanly and motioned to the waiter. "We had a  
fight."  
  
Of course Megumi had never seen the pair fight, but both had  
spoken to her privately about their differences. The look of shock on  
her face must have been amusing, she thought.  
  
"Actually, I think I kinda missed it," Ranma continued,  
wistfully. "I don't miss the mallet though. I can't beleive we  
actually had a fight that *went* somewhere."  
  
Suddenly, Megumi felt her curiosity for gossip beat down her  
nervousness, and she leaned in close to the redhead. "Ooh! What  
happened?"  
  
Ranma told her the details of the fight. Megumi seemed a little  
shocked about Akane being attacked, but Ranma waved her off.  
  
"It happens all the time anyway. I just can't let her risk  
herself on somthing like that. I... I care too much about her."  
  
Megumi nodded, "Go on..."  
  
"Well anyway, after we made up, we tried to think of things to  
do that would make us trust eachother more. Akane agreed to let me  
defend her when I wanted, and I agreed not to try and act like I  
wasn't doing it. Then came the good part!"  
  
"Before or after it started raining?"  
  
"After."  
  
Megumi had to stifle a giggle. Kisses in the rain were so  
romant... Uh-oh. *She* didn't! She couldn't have! As a girl? With  
horror, Megumi watched Ranma's face crack into a gleeful grin that  
could only be the result of something so private being shared.  
  
"You didn't!" She hissed.  
  
Ranma nodded gleefully. "Yeah, I did. And were going to start  
tomorrow!"  
  
Megumi gasped in shock. "You're can't be serious!"  
  
"Yeah! We start sparring tomorrow morning when I usually work  
out."  
  
Megumi blushed. Of course, fighting would be just as important  
and personal to a life long martial artist as any kind of romance.  
  
"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Ranma continued. "I mean, here I  
am with nobody to fight with, constantly having to watch out for  
Akane. If I can train her up to my level, I'll be able to trust her  
that much more to take care of herself. She'll be more ready to take  
on one of the other girls too, if they find out where she's going  
every day."  
  
Megumi could only nod, not trusting her self to speak. It was  
Ranma, alright. Girl or boy, no one else could be so focused. As she  
and Ranma sat and talked away the night, Megumi found herself  
wondering how much to embrace the magic that suddenly surrounded her.  
  
For the first time since she was a very young girl, the evening  
seemed somehow... *magical*.  
  
* * *  
  
Akane strode up to the house. While she was grinning madly,  
almost skipping down the walk, she could still feel the redness in  
her eyes from the crying earlier. She hoped that the rain would hide  
it.  
  
As she came up to the door, she noticed a dark figure in the  
bushes. She jumped back and crouched in a defensive stance.  
  
"All right, come out of there before I call the police."  
  
"A-Akane-chan! How surprising to see you here of... all..  
places..."  
  
"Tofuu-sensei? What are you doing back there?"  
  
Nervously, the doctor stepped out onto the walk. In the dim  
light cast by the door lamp, Akane could see that the doctor was  
soaked to the bone and had twigs and worse all through his hair. His  
glasses were horribly fogged, even as wet as it was. "Ummmmm....  
Well, I was coming to see your sister of course, Akane. Isn't it a  
wonderful night for a visit?"  
  
Akane knew it was useless to disagree with him when he was like  
this, and besides, she had had a fairly spectacular visit of her own.  
Subconciously, her hand went to her lips.  
  
"Of course, Betty-chan isn't here, and what's an evening  
without Betty. She said it was the rain. You know how old bones ache  
in wet weather." The doctor began nervously scraping his fist against  
the wall, chipping off a little paint in the process.  
  
"Why don't you come in before you freeze, Doctor?"  
  
Tofuu gulped as Akane opened the door. It was still too early  
for him! He wasn't ready! This was all happening too soon, but Akane  
took his hand and led him in the door."  
  
"Tadaima!" She called out as she closed the door behind them.  
Tofuu began to shake in apprehension.  
  
"Poor thing, you must be frozen solid!" Akane led him into the  
main room, where her father and Genma were watching an old samurai  
movie. "We'll just have Kasumi make you up some warm tea. Won't that  
be good?"  
  
Nabiki looked up at her sister with a little bit of  
exaspersation. Trust Akane to pick a night like this to go out on.  
  
"K-k-k-k-kasumi?!" Tofu chattered. He held up his fist,  
clenching the small black box and crumpled note.  
  
"Yes, is somebody here?" The older girl called out from up the  
stairs. I'll be down in just a minute!"  
  
Akane turned to the doctor, and noticed the box. "Tofuu-sensei!  
You brought a present for Kasumi. How nice!"  
  
*Present... yes...* thought Tofuu. The world seemed to be  
slowing down around him.  
  
"Who's here, Akane?" Kasumi turned the corner from the  
stairwell and stepped into the main room.  
  
Time stopped for Tofuu.  
  
Never before had he seen such a sight. Kasumi... in a bikini.  
The world went dark. Tofuu could die happy, now.  
  
"What a lovely swimsuit, Oneechan!" Akane commented. "Is that  
the one-- Doctor Tofuu?"  
  
The doctor fell to the ground without bending his knees. Only  
his fist betrayed any life, still clutching at the velvet box and  
note.  
  
"Oh, Tofuu, you silly dear," Kasumi pried the note and started  
to read.  
  
"To my dearest Kasumi, I..." Her eyes went wide and a tear  
rolled down her cheek. "L-love you..." She whispered.  
  
Akane suddenly realized what the little black box was. In  
shock, she took it from the doctor's rigid fingers and handed it to  
her sister.  
  
Trembling, Kasumi continued to read the note. Nabiki ran over  
and looked over her shoulder.  
  
Soun walked over to the young doctor. "Tofuu, what brings you  
over at this time of night?"  
  
"Shh, Daddy!" Nabiki cautioned. "Tofuu just proposed to  
Kasumi!!!"  
  
"Growf???" The giant panda shuffled over to the small,  
incredulous group and snuffled at the unconcious doctor.  
  
"Well, I'll be..." Soun knelt and patted Tofuu on his limp  
shoulder. "That's the way to go, Son. Show some initiative. If  
only... Ah, well. The past is the past. Your mother would be proud,  
Kasumi."  
  
The girl didn't answer as she started to cry. She clutched the  
note to her breast and buried her face in Tofuu's soaked gi.  
Trembling, she turned her face slightly and pulled the box open.  
  
Nabiki was the first to gasp. In her case it was the opulence  
of the ring. Such a treasure should be on *her* finger! Akane, primed  
from her fight and reconciliation with Ranma, knelt and cried along  
with her sister. Heartened as Kasumi shakily slid the ring over the  
tip of her finger, Soun patted his furry friend on the back.  
  
"Growf!"  
  
"You said it, Saotome-kun." He patted the unconcious doctor  
again. "Good job, Son. Welcome to the family."  
  
* * *  
  
After she managed to cry herself out and Tofuu regained a  
jittering conciousness, Akane ran for her room. She simply *had* to  
phone Ranma and tell him what happened. Even when she received no  
answer at his phone number, she didn't become upset.  
  
She *trusted* him. It felt good to say. He was probably with  
Megumi, trying to help her with her upset. More importantly, she  
knew, She and Ranma had taken a big step towards building something  
*more* than trust.  
  
She thought about her sister and Tofuu, and how much the two of  
them would have to learn to live together.  
  
Right then, she vowed, *If Kasumi can do it, then so can I.  
I'll make Ranma mine!*  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
Author's Notes: 10-09-2000  
  
Carrot Ironfoundersson in Pratchet's 'Discworld' books abuses   
the common colon in a totally unforgivable manner. Apparently, so do   
I. The most major revisions that I made to this chapter were mostly   
in the way of cleaning up punctuation and grammar.  
  
  
* * *  
  
C. Jones   
http://www.furinkan.net  
  
Watashi ha ultra-relakusu!  
  
  
  
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	3. Guises

This and all my other fanfiction is available at  
http://www.furinkan.net  
  
From ffml-bounce@fanfic.com Thu Oct 12 11:38:07 2000  
  
----------------------------------------  
Ranma's Apartment: 3 - Guises  
  
a Ranma 1/2 - Aa! Megami-sama Fanstory  
by Chris Jones  
  
revised 10-12-2000  
----------------------------------------  
  
"No! Put the pumpkins over there! Do you know how  
expensive those were?" True, Megumi thought, Belldandy  
obtained them for the party, but they were *very* expensive at  
the market. She turned back from where Ootaki and Tamiya were  
arranging the decorations to her own task of beautifying the  
buffet table.  
  
"So, Sis, do we finally get to meet your roommate?"  
Her brother and his girlfriend walked in to the party room  
provided by the apartment building.  
  
"Kei-chan! Belldandy! You're here. Now I can put you  
to work on the cooking!"  
  
Belldandy looked happy enough at the statement, but  
Keiichi scowled a little bit. He could be so grumpy sometimes!  
"Silly, I'm just kidding! We'll be catering out of both the  
auto-club's and the theater-club's budgets, since this is a  
joint party."  
  
"Where are Saotome-san and Tendou-san?" Belldandy  
asked. "One should properly greet one's hosts."  
  
Megumi stood and placed her hands on her hips.  
"Akane's at home getting her costume ready. She'll be along in  
an hour or so. Ranma's..."  
  
For some reason, it bothered her deeply to lie to  
Belldandy. Worse than her brother, oddly enough. Maybe it was  
the girl's exuberant innocence about the world. Megumi had to  
keep from rushing through the prepared line. "Ranma's visiting  
his mother tonight. He's still coming to lunch tomorrow,  
though."  
  
"That's too bad for Tendou-san," the blonde girl noted  
sadly. "When should we change into our costumes?"  
  
"I'm just about to change into mine. The party's going  
to start in a little over an hour, so I want to be ready when  
the crowd shows up." Megumi pointed vaguely skywards. "We can  
change up in my room, if you like."  
  
Keiichi looked over to where his sempai were  
struggling to hang a large cut-out black cat on the wall. "You  
two go ahead. I'm going to help out here for a bit."  
  
"Wait a second..." Megumi interrupted. "Hey, I told  
you two, 'No Cats'! It's important!"  
  
Tamiya and Ootaki withered under her angry gaze.  
  
"Here, give me that!" she scolded, folding the cutout  
and leading Belldandy from the room.  
  
Keiichi just shrugged.  
  
* * *  
  
Under the curious eye of her sister, Akane pulled the  
red vinyl bodice over her naked breasts.  
  
"Seriously, Akane. That's going to start chafing after  
an hour." Lazily, Nabiki let her finger slide down the long  
slick surface of one of the matching boots laying next to her  
on Akane's bed. "It's going to be pretty uncomfortable."  
  
Akane nodded. "You may be right. I'm a little worried  
about the heat, too. The vinyl will be hot no matter what I  
do."  
  
She pulled the cups down and wrapped a strapless bra  
around her bust before replacing them. She turned to examine  
her profile in the mirror. Quite a bit of the bra stuck out  
around the edges.  
  
Rubbing the back of the heel on the boot, Nabiki  
looked up at her sister. "The place has got air-conditioning,  
right?"  
  
Akane smiled knowingly, and pulled the bra out of the  
bustiere. Nabiki had been baiting her for the last four  
months, desperately trying to figure out where Ranma was. She  
even had seen the master chart of all the apartment buildings  
in Tokyo Nabiki had in her room.  
  
Finding very little help from her sister, Nabiki had  
resorted to a covert form of twenty questions to try to narrow  
down her list. Tonight, however, Nabiki was in for a surprise.  
  
"Do you have a costume, 'Nee-chan?"  
  
Nabiki's finger stopped in mid-circle. "Why would I  
need a costume, Akane?" she asked anxiously.  
  
Because Ranma had allowed it. After three months of  
the most intense training in her life, Ranma said she was  
ready to take care of herself if anything or *anybody*  
happened. Still, Akane wanted to play it safe.  
  
"You can't tell *anybody* about anything you happen to  
see at the party."  
  
Nabiki growled internally. *Damn her!* Akane had  
effectively nailed her down. Besides her ongoing search for  
the fled Ranma, the Auto-Theater joint costume party was  
promised to be the best party of the year.  
  
Nabiki *wanted* to go, even if there was no chance of  
finding out about what had almost become a personal crusade  
for her. Now Akane was trying to cut off all the other  
information Nabiki might overhear this evening. She was  
irritated with Ranma for leaving so abruptly, leaving her out  
of the loop, so to speak. This, however, was almost an insult!  
  
"Why would I want to go to your party, Akane? I have  
better things to do on a Friday night than go to a club  
party."  
  
Akane looked hurt, but continued to arrange her  
costume. She pulled the long blonde wig over her own short  
pageboy.  
  
"Here, you forgot these." Nabiki handed a beret to  
Akane. Once she put it on over the wig, the stuffed triangles  
on either side made it appear that she had ears like a cat.  
  
"Akane, it's not that I wouldn't go. I just... have  
other things to do tonight. Don't feel bad, okay?"  
  
Akane nodded and began to pull on the boots. "You  
probably wouldn't enjoy it anyway. Besides Kasumi and Tofu,  
it'll just be a bunch of theater and racing people."  
  
And the who's who of their university, Nabiki added  
silently. She personally knew of several of the most popular  
students in attendance who had begged either Megumi Morisato  
or her sister for an invitation to the party.  
  
"What do you think?" Akane asked as she finished the  
costume. "I still have to do my makeup, but..."  
  
Nabiki nodded in appreciation. From the hip boots to  
the tight bustiere, Akane looked the part. ...except for the  
makeup. "So which one are you?"  
  
"Ana Puma." Akane set about applying a *deep* red  
lipstick.  
  
"Any one else playing the part of 'Una Puma'?"  
  
Akane nodded and blotted her lips on a tissue. "Just  
one of my friends. No one you'd know."  
  
"I'm sure." It *had* to be Ranma. Akane was being so  
secretive about the party, there was just no other way! Nabiki  
had to go to the party now, even if it meant crashing it in  
order to avoid her sister's oath. She needed a plan quickly.  
  
And she needed a costume...  
  
* * *  
  
Ryouga Hibiki was lost. Of course he had been lost for  
most of his life, but lately it seemed that his sense of  
direction was worse than it had ever been. He couldn't even  
make it back to the Tendou home, or the loving arms of Akane.  
Instead he had wandered all over Japan. When he did make his  
way back to Tokyo, he seemed to be attracted to this large  
grey building near one of the school campuses. No matter what  
direction he tried to turn, he always ended up circling it  
like a vulture.  
  
It had been months, but sooner or later Ranma would  
have to cross his path, and when he did...  
  
Ryouga could *taste* his victory over Ranma. It had  
been years in the making. After all that villain had done to  
Akane, insulted her, taunted her, made her cry when he wasn't  
there to.... No! he couldn't think about that! The only thing  
that mattered was crushing Ranma's skull into paste. *Just you  
wait, Ranma!*  
  
"Urd!," Skuld whispered to her eldest sister. "Look at  
that weird guy in the bandanna!"  
  
"The one laughing out loud?" Urd merely shrugged. "You  
get people like that on Earth sometimes. There's not a lot you  
can do about it. Come on! We're gonna miss the party if we  
don't hurry!"  
  
* * *  
  
Something just seemed... *right* about Belldandy's  
costume. Megumi wasn't sure if it was the girl's seeming  
innocence or her slender face and figure. As Belldandy  
attached the little ring of garland to her collar, Megumi  
decided that she looked she as if she should be at a Christmas  
party instead. Even though the costume was very simple, merely  
a long white gown and a garland halo, it looked so elegant on  
Belldandy it made Megumi want to...  
  
Kneel? Pray? Was that right? Megumi shook her head.  
  
Her own costume, while quite a bit more complex,  
didn't look nearly so perfect. She was dressed as a French  
maid, complete with a little feather duster. It was certainly  
a nice costume and fairly attractive too, but Megumi just felt  
like it didn't measure up. *Oh well, we can't all have figures  
like that.*  
  
"I'm ready!" Keiichi came in from Ranma's room.  
Belldandy ran over to hug him as he stepped across the  
doorway.  
  
Megumi stifled a gasp. Something was wrong here...  
  
Keiichi was dressed all in red, complete with a little  
red tail and horns and cape. It made sense, if you thought  
about it, that the couple would pick complimentary costumes.  
Something about seeing the two of them together however, made  
Megumi horribly uneasy. Something was fundamentally wrong  
with... what they were wearing and what... they were doing...  
and...  
  
The Goddess lovingly pecked the Demon on the cheek.  
  
"NOOOO!!!!"  
  
In the deep, primitive recesses of Megumi's  
cerebellum, something snapped. It was something that all  
people had, but never have the opportunity to acknowledge. It  
was part of a long forgotten survival reaction, one that never  
got called on by normal people. What she had just seen was  
*not* supposed to happen.  
  
"Megumi?!?! What's wrong?!?!"  
  
Without realizing it, Megumi had fallen to her knees.  
She shook her head to clear out the fuzz. The figure holding  
her was suddenly her brother again.  
  
"You screamed, Megumi. What's wrong?"  
  
Megumi blinked once or twice and looked into the  
worried faces of Belldandy and Keiichi framed by what now  
looked like horribly ridiculous costumes. "I must have been  
working too hard on the party," she said. "I just got a little  
dizzy spell, that's all. I just need to calm down."  
  
Keiichi nodded and put a calming hand to her cheek.  
Belldandy leaned down and rubbed her other cheek. For some  
reason it made her feel better.  
  
* * *  
  
Tamiya was not happy. He should have been inside  
drinking and showing off his 'Rambo' costume to the pretty  
girls, but instead, he was stuck out here acting as bouncer.  
Bah! That punk Morisato was just hogging all the girls again.  
How the runt got away with it, he'd never know. Still, he only  
had to stay out in front of the building for an hour until  
Ootaki took over. After that, the runt was supposed to take a  
turn too.  
  
It was funny, he thought, the way he was supposed to  
regulate guests to the party. Instead of a list of people to  
be let in, he had a list of people *not* to be let in. It was  
confusing, but hey, if the purple haired babe he had been  
given a picture of couldn't go in then he might not want to  
either!  
  
Belldandy's little sister came out with a drink for  
him. Gratefully, he took it from her and sent her back inside  
to the party.  
  
*Cute costume," he thought, trying to keep from  
staring at the bottom of her short sailor fuku.  
  
A potted pine walked up.  
  
Tamiya took a long draw off his drink before address  
the tree. "You here for the party?"  
  
The pine shook its top several times.  
  
"Ummm... Sorry bout dis, but I gotta see your face  
before you go in. Make sure you're on the list."  
  
*Damn!* the pine thought. *I was too far behind her.  
She's already got people waiting for me.* Grudgingly, she took  
the top off of her costume.  
  
*Pretty cute,* Tamiya thought. *Maybe I should try to  
spend some time with this one later.*  
  
Sure enough, she wasn't in any of the photos Megumi  
and her friend had given him. "Okay, you can go in. Take the  
elevator to the second floor, and follow the balloons. You  
can't miss it."  
  
*Whew! Akane must not have had time to change the  
list.* Replacing her hood, she followed the well muscled man's  
directions.  
  
"This must be where Ranma lives. It's a pretty nice  
place," Nabiki muttered to herself. "I wonder how can afford  
it?"  
  
She pushed the elevator button, and waited for the car  
to come down. As she waited, a couple of Akane's friends from  
the theater club walked up behind her and started chatting  
amiably.  
  
"So did you hear if there's going to be a band?" the  
Wicked Witch of the West asked.  
  
Dorothy, who was carrying a little stuffed 'Toto',  
shook her head. "I haven't heard anything other than there's  
supposed to be some sort of musical entertainment. That could  
mean anything from a kareoke machine to Dama-kun's eight track  
player."  
  
The Wicked Witch shuddered. "Euuggh! I have heard  
enough of the Beegees for one lifetime, thank you!"  
  
Dorothy giggled her assent, and the Potted Pine did  
her best to keep quiet.  
  
"You here for the party, too?" The two girls asked  
her. Again, the only response she made was to nod.  
  
"What's your name?" The Witch asked.  
  
The Pine maintained her silence.  
  
"Ohh!" Dorothy Interjected. "I bet she's here looking  
for a boy and doesn't want him to know who she is!"  
  
*No! That's not it at...* Well, she *was* trying to  
pin down Ranma again. Hesitantly, she nodded.  
  
"Ohhh! We won't tell!" They giggled naughtily all the  
way to the second floor.  
  
* * *  
  
"Bell-chan?"  
  
"Yes, Keiichi-san?"  
  
"Is there something wrong with my costume?"  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
A passing theater-club member yelped and dropped his  
drink as he caught sight of Keiichi and Belldandy.  
  
"It's just... people keep avoiding us. Do I smell or  
something?" Of course Belldandy couldn't possibly be driving  
people away. At her worst, just after that fight with Fenrir,  
he had seen people go out of their way to stand or walk near  
her.  
  
Keiichi shook his head. It must have been the lighting  
or something.  
  
"Onee-sama?"  
  
Belldandy turned to face her little sister. "What is  
it, Skuld-chan?"  
  
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Skuld strode up to the pair and  
pulled a knobby looking device with several loose wires out of  
the belt of her costume. She adjusted a few of the knobs and  
looked back up at her sister.  
  
"You checked this place for mystical problems before  
Megumi moved in, didn't you?"  
  
Belldandy nodded, a trace of concern showing on her  
angelic face. "Yes I did, Skuld. Is there a problem?"  
  
"Well," the sailor suited goddess began. "I'm not  
sure. I'm getting a few strong traces of supernatural energy  
from this building, but nothing to indicate a possible threat  
or even another goddess or demon. I don't know what to make of  
it."  
  
"Hmm..." Belldandy's finger went to her cheek in  
thought. "It may just be a passing phenomenon, Skuld-chan. I  
would hate to interrupt the party if we didn't have to."  
  
"It would really bring more attention to us than we  
need," Keiichi commented. "Why don't you continue  
investigating and see if anything turns up?" he suggested.  
  
Belldandy smiled and nodded, laying her head on  
Keiichi's shoulder.  
  
Resisting the urge to mallet Keiichi, Skuld turned,  
only to run into a nurse and her patient. Megumi, standing  
next to them, motioned to the nurse.  
  
"Kei-chan, Belldandy, Skuld, this is Kasumi Tendou and  
Tofu Ono. Kasumi is Akane's older sister and Tofu is her  
fiancee."  
  
Both girls bowed, Keiichi put an embarrassed hand  
behind his head, and Tofu twitched nervously.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Kasumi intoned pleasantly,  
flashing her milk-smooth smile.  
  
"Certainly. It's a pleasure," Belldandy sung,  
returning Kasumi's smile with one of her own.  
  
*Something odd about that girl's voice,* Skuld thought  
as she returned to her investigation.  
  
* * *  
  
How he had gotten to the top of the building, Ryouga  
would never know, even years later. He sighed and put one foot  
on the ledge.  
  
*The city is beautiful at night,* he thought. *Not a  
cloud in the sky.*  
  
It was a bit nippy fifteen stories up however, and  
Ryouga didn't particularly feel like spending the night up  
there. His search for Ranma and his righteous vengeance would  
have to wait until tomorrow.  
  
Glancing around from his vantage, Ryouga spotted a  
nearby park. If he kept it in view, he might just be able to  
make it there before he got lost again.  
  
That meant not using the building's stairwell or  
elevator.  
  
*Can't be helped,* Ryouga thought stoically as he  
climbed over the side of the building. He clung to a drain  
pipe and shimmied his way down.  
  
There were narrow ledges every five stories, so Ryouga  
stopped at the tenth floor to rest his arms and shoulders  
before proceeding. While he was confident he could climb down  
in one go if need be, he had ample time and didn't want to  
lose the park in his haste.  
  
He lowered himself off the ledge and caught his drain  
pipe again. He decided to rest again at the fifth story. Still  
clinging to the pipe, Ryouga lowered his foot to the ledge.  
His arms were getting pretty tired.  
  
It was just as Ryouga had both feet set firmly on the  
ledge that a section of the drain pipe came away in his hands  
in a cold, muddy splash.  
  
* * *  
  
"Yatta!" Skuld shouted as the display on her  
instrument peaked. Now she could set about narrowing down the  
causes for the mystic field and find out who was doing what in  
Megumi's apartment building. She had a definite morphic  
resonance frequency she could search for now.  
  
She pulled out another sensor and set it to scan for  
the indicated frequency. If Luck was on her side, and Luck  
*did* owe her a favor or two, Skuld would find the source of  
the magic within an hour.  
  
Her attention was distracted from the sensor as loud,  
rhythmic music started up from the front of the room. The  
lights dimmed and someone turned a small spotlight on the  
raised platform.  
  
Two young women ran into the room from a nearby  
doorway, and took symmetrical poses on the small stage. A loud  
synthesizer chord struck up from the back of the room, and the  
two girls began to sing.  
  
*Hello girls!* They chanted. *Do you believe in love?*  
  
Skuld did her best to ignore the dance song as she  
adjusted the sensor's gain. Sure enough, something was  
emitting low-grade mystic energy. Now if only...  
  
"Masaka..." She turned the sensor, pointing it first  
towards and then away from the stage. Within seconds, she had  
her suspect.  
  
While the potted pine was no more happy than Skuld,  
she had quite a different reason.  
  
*Madonna?* She shook her head and sighed out loud. "I  
thought Akane had better taste than that." Regardless, the  
'Puma Twins' were doing an admirable job of turning almost  
every male eye in the room.  
  
From where she was standing near the back of the room,  
she could only assume that the girl on the right was Akane  
from her costume. She just couldn't see the other girl closely  
enough.  
  
She worked her way up through the crowd, edging her  
oversized costume around various groups and cliques. On stage,  
Akane and the other girl strutted in unison, sending most of  
the male tongues hanging.  
  
"Hey, watch it!" a voice shouted from her side.  
  
She turned, trying to see, but the top of the costume  
cut off her peripheral vision. Irratatedly, she pulled it off,  
and turned to the source of the voice.  
  
"Sorry about that," A young man offered, "But you  
nearly bumped into Urd, here!"  
  
"Oh, I'm certain it's allright, Dama-kun. She didn't  
mean any harm."  
  
Nabiki looked in puzzlement at the scene before her.  
Surrounded by four or five young men was a beautiful gaijin  
women in very revealing costume of sheer silk and metallic  
lame, lying on a low divan. The divan was simply out in the  
middle of the floor and strangely out of fashion with the rest  
of the furniture in the room, almost as if it had been somehow  
conjured to go with the woman.  
  
The exotic woman herself had unusual markings on her  
face. Since they were the wrong color for tattoos, Nabiki  
could only assume that they were part of the costume. Oddly,  
though, the markings looked far too solid to be makeup,  
either.  
  
Irritated, but unwilling to cause a scene, Nabiki  
bowed her head slightly. "I was having some difficulty seeing  
out of my costume. I hope you don't mind."  
  
"Not at all." The woman appraised her for a second.  
"Trying to see your sister dancing?"  
  
Nabiki nodded. "I didn't think the resemblance was  
that noticeable."  
  
Urd shrugged, causing the men around her to goggle at  
the things it did to her costume. "You can just tell  
sometimes." She paused for a second, further appraising the  
girl in the bulky costume. "You look upset. Did your date  
leave you?" She winked slyly, motioning to the group of men.  
"I think I can spare one if you're in need."  
  
"Oh, no! No!" Nabiki waved her felt covered hands in  
front of her. "I'm... looking for someone in particular."  
  
"Ohhh... Maybe I can help!" Urd offered, grinning  
speculatively.  
  
Nabiki decided that that was not very wise. "It's not  
like that. I'm just looking for a... friend I haven't seen for  
several months. I think he lives here and he was supposed to  
be here at the party with my sister," she explained, pointing  
briefly to the stage, "But I'm not sure he's really coming."  
  
Nabiki was about to continue when she realized that  
the white haired woman was no longer listening, chatting with  
the hormone crazed men around her instead.  
  
*Figures,* Nabiki thought to herself. She was a little  
disturbed by how much she had said though. Regardless of her  
frustration and irritation, she had said too much.  
  
Shaking her head, she edged forward a few steps, and  
was able to see the dancers more clearly.  
  
She closely inspected the two girls from her new  
vantage. Akane was easy enough to pick out from the shape of  
her face, but the other girl was a little harder to peg.  
  
She certainly looked familiar, but their dance kept  
the long hair in their blonde wigs swirling around so that it  
was difficult to get a very clear view of her face.  
  
She squinted. Besides the ultra-feminine costume, the  
girl was wearing high heeled boots to balance out the height  
difference between herself and Akane. She *was* the right  
height, but there were just too many differences. It could  
have been an effect of the lighting, but the girl appeared to  
be wearing makeup that was every bit as heavy as Akane's. Even  
when Ranma was *trying* to look cute for what ever reason, he  
never wore any makeup whatsoever. This girl's makeup looked  
like a professional job. To tell the truth, it was just a  
little bit neater than her sister's.  
  
On they danced, in perfectly choreographed unison. At  
least she could be certain that some of Akane's time away from  
home lately had been in practice for this evening.  
  
Further study yielded little more. Without a much  
closer look at the girl, she just couldn't be sure if it was  
Ranma or not!  
  
Nabiki was briefly distracted by an argument behind  
her involving the woman she had just spoken with, but returned  
to her scrutiny of the dancing pair.  
  
"Onee-sama!"  
  
Urd exhaled angrily, sat up on her divan, and turned  
toward her sister. "What, Skuld? What is it?"  
  
"That's where the magic is coming from," the younger  
goddess whispered, pointing towards one of the girls on stage.  
  
"Well, what do you want me to do about it, brat?"  
  
Skuld's jaw tightened and she clenched her fists at  
the waist of her costume. "I want you to go check it out. What  
do you think I want?"  
  
Urd smiled and waved to the group of young men that  
was growing around her lounge chair. "Can't you see that I'm  
busy?" she whispered from in between clenched teeth.  
  
"You can tease them anytime," Skuld countered. "This  
is more important. What if there's a demon or an angry spirit  
allowed to roam free in Megumi's apartment building?"  
  
Urd sighed. She didn't particularly want a repeat of  
what happened the *last* time Megumi moved into a new place.  
  
Well, if Skuld was going to give her a hard time about  
it...  
  
A little angrily, Urd stood, and shooed away the  
remnants of her suitors. They would be easy enough to  
recapture once she had placated the brat.  
  
With a rousing downbeat, the dance song ended. The two  
girls ended their act in a pose, and waited for the lights to  
go off before they ran off stage. Almost immediately however,  
the two girls were surrounded by a group of young men who  
started harassing them for their names and phone numbers.  
  
Urd sighed in defeat. Many of them had come from her  
own little entourage. The heart of a man was fickle indeed.  
  
Standing several feet away from the costumed girl in  
question, Urd caused herself to be unremarkable. She wasn't  
invisible, however no one who saw her would really notice her  
or remember she had been there.  
  
She strode over the girl, who was busy trying to get  
rid of an admirer and placed a hand on her shoulder to record  
her emotional state. While she was waiting, she closely  
examined the girl.  
  
Of course she was wearing a wig, so Urd couldn't tell  
what color her hair was, but she had deep blue eyes and a  
beautiful pouty expression. She was slightly shorter than her  
companion, even though she was wearing very high heels to make  
up for the difference.  
  
Under the make-up, Urd could tell that this was a very  
pretty young woman.  
  
*Ah, it's done.*  
  
She took a few steps back to contemplate her data.  
There was some sort of magical field around the girl but...  
  
Urd was rather surprised to find a deep and abiding  
attraction in the girl for her companion.  
  
*Will wonders never cease?* she thought to herself.  
With a second or two more worth of study, Urd traced the  
enormous length and depth of the young woman's affection. Not  
unsurprisingly, the goddess found that she feared that the  
other girl would be repulsed or offended by any advance she  
might make. Her heart was bursting full of love and desire but  
she had not attempted to seduce her love for reasons of  
anxiety.  
  
With a quick step, Urd moved over to the other Puma-  
twin and examined her as well. In the brown-eyed girl's heart  
she found a deep loss and anger.  
  
*Ah, the loss of a mother. She's mostly recovered,  
though.* A few more seconds search brought her to the girl's  
desires.  
  
There *was* a slight attraction to the shorter girl,  
but it was horribly overshadowed by a much stronger attraction  
to...  
  
The same person?! *What's going on here?!* Urd  
thought.  
  
A few more seconds of probing revealed that as well as  
extensive physical training together, the two had exchanged  
basic intimacies, such as kissing and light petting. This girl  
had just as much love and desire as the other. She desperately  
wanted something to come of their relationship, and was ready  
to take the steps necessary to achieve that. She too feared  
the response her partner would make if she offered anything  
more physical.  
  
Satisfied with her findings, Urd stepped back away  
from the two girls. *These two are *fated* to be together,*  
she guessed. *They want each other and nothing but fear is  
keeping them apart.* Urd turned her face toward the ceiling,  
and spread her arms. *Love is love is holy love, and I must  
make it flourish where ever I find it. That is my purpose.*  
  
With a prayer, Urd blessed their relationship. She  
materialized two of the cocktail drinks being passed around  
and anointed each one with a drop of 'Urd's Own' lovers' sauce  
number twelve. It would counter the effect of the alcohol,  
leaving them in complete control of their faculties, yet  
reduce the two girls' inhibitions just a little. If they truly  
loved and desired one another, their bodies would do the rest  
of the work.  
  
"Here, have a drink!" she offered  
  
Not really aware of her, both young women took a glass  
and sipped.  
  
"Thanks!" The blue eyed girl answered, before  
returning to the task of fending off her admirers.  
  
After a few minutes, the girls had managed to dispel  
the group. In relief, they turned to each other and smiled.  
Urd could suddenly *feel* their blood heating up with long  
suppressed passion.  
  
The shorter girl breathed heavily, a fire igniting in  
her eyes. The other girl's expression changed to match. They  
stood, gazing into each other's eyes for several seconds.  
  
"I think I smell something burning," the brown-eyed  
girl excused herself and edged her way out from the middle of  
dance floor.  
  
Urd nodded. Something was burning all right!  
  
After a few seconds, the blue-eyed girl took off after  
her friend. "Hey, Akane. Wait for me!"  
  
Just a hint was all it took. Urd sighed with the joy  
of doing her job. It was one of the finest thrills she got  
from life and she was quite proud of it. She stepped away from  
the group of slack-jawed young men.  
  
"Now where was I?" she pondered. "Oh yes, Dama-kun?  
Where are you?" she called above the crowd.  
  
"Onee-sama!" Skuld demanded.  
  
"What, brat?"  
  
"Did you find out about the magic?" Skuld asked  
petulantly.  
  
"Magic? What magic?" She turned and gazed deeply into  
the eyes of a nervous young man. "Why Dama-kun, there you are!  
You were just telling me about your love of 'retro' music..."  
  
Skuld wanted to cry.  
  
* * *  
  
Nabiki was still not sure, and she *had* to be sure.  
She had been watching Akane and her friend very closely when  
they abruptly ran off together. You just didn't leave a party  
like that so she knew something was up.  
  
She adjusted her pot so that she could walk and took  
off after the pair.  
  
After a few minutes, Nabiki found herself out in the  
darkened hallway behind the party room. Unfortunately, it was  
a long hall and there were about ten doors marked 'storage' in  
large type, any of which the pair could have gone into. That  
didn't even take into account the nearby elevator and  
stairwell.  
  
Nabiki sighed, despairing of ever finding out what was  
going on. She was about to go back to the party when she  
caught sight light coming out from underneath the door of a  
public restroom.  
  
*Damnit!* she thought bitterly as her bladder called  
out for attention. She fought to keep focused on her search  
but the call of nature became more insistent until it was too  
loud for Nabiki to ignore.  
  
After she finished in the restroom, Nabiki was so  
disgusted with the whole miserable situation she didn't even  
bother to put her costume back on.  
  
The whole evening was going to hell! She had  
absolutely no idea who her sister was hanging around with and  
couldn't even find her besides. The idiot costume was bulky  
and hot and she didn't have a flea's chance in a furnace of  
meeting any cute guys in it or--  
  
*THUMP*  
  
Nabiki's sharp ears pointed to the opposite end of the  
hallway. Lightly, she ran a few paces, trying to pinpoint  
where the sound had come from.  
  
*tap* *tap* *scrape*  
  
There!  
  
The doors were about ten feet apart apiece, so Nabiki  
had no trouble narrowing in on the sounds. With expertise  
borne of long practice at eavesdropping, she silently edged  
the door open and closed it behind her.  
  
*bump* *bump*... *bump*  
  
She crouched. It was even darker in the little room  
than it was in the hall. It was also filled with a maze of  
boxes and sheet wrapped furniture. Cat-like, she crept over to  
the source of the sounds.  
  
Crouching behind a carefully protected sofa, Nabiki  
turned her gaze to the source of the sounds.  
  
There, in a pool of moonlight, she saw them. It gave  
her a rather nasty shock. She wasn't expecting it at all.  
  
Her wig lying discarded on the floor, Akane was  
sitting on the edge of an old, dusty table. Embraced in her  
arms, and being caressed by her lips was the girl Nabiki had  
seen her with earlier.  
  
Nabiki stifled a gasp at the sight, unable to move  
from her position.  
  
The two held each other and kissed passionately for  
several minutes. The girl's hands roamed up and down Akane's  
back, caressing and stroking every curve. Nervously, she  
tugged at the top of Akane's bustiere.  
  
Akane moaned a little bit, and shifted her position  
slightly. With a few more tugs, Akane's bodice came away from  
her breasts. Springy and pert, they bounced just a bit as they  
fell against the top of the red vinyl.  
  
Absently, Nabiki noted that Akane hadn't found another  
bra.  
  
The other girl continued to massage Akane's skin with  
her quick, delicate hands. Nervously, her hands darted to the  
exposed mounds of flesh and squeezed ever so gently.  
  
Akane leaned back and gasped a little, causing the  
table to make the thumping noise that had drawn Nabiki in the  
first place.  
  
Nabiki was mesmerized by the sight. The two girls'  
lips darted over each other and firmly locked as the girl  
began to gently knead Akane's right nipple.  
  
Akane's hands were clasped behind the girl's neck  
underneath the blonde wig she had somehow managed to retain.  
  
The girl's other hand slid up Nabiki's sister's chest  
and began to cup and caress Akane's neck and chin.  
  
Nabiki could clearly see her sister's goosebumps rise  
in the pale light as the strange girl let her lips fall to  
kiss the flesh just above her collar.  
  
Trembling, the girl went even lower. She bent her  
knees slightly so that she could reach, and let her tongue and  
lips slide over Akane's now erect nipple.  
  
She didn't know why, but Nabiki found herself  
trembling slightly as well.  
  
Akane's sharp hiss startled Nabiki a little bit, very  
nearly making her bump the sofa. She cursed silently and  
resumed her surveillance.  
  
The girl let her lips work over Akane's stiffened  
nipple for quite some time, alternately nursing and lapping at  
the taut aureola.  
  
It was Akane, strangely enough, that made the next  
move. After her right breast, and then her left had received  
the other girl's attentions, Akane took the girl's slender  
hand, clasping it with her own.  
  
Both girls were trembling now as Akane guided the hand  
toward her stomach. The girl slid her fingers around Akane's  
navel as she undid the button and zipper on her vinyl shorts.  
  
With an expectant expression on her face, the girl  
once again began to nurse at Akane's breast as she slid her  
slender fingers down in between Akane's legs.  
  
"Lower..." Akane whispered. "A little... Ah!" She  
brought her legs up and wrapped them around her lover's back  
as her fingers began to rock gently back and forth. "There!  
Ah!"  
  
Fighting the impulse to stay and watch further, Nabiki  
forced her eyes to close and she hurriedly backed out of her  
situation. She crept back towards the door and left just as  
silently as she came.  
  
There was no doubt in her mind now. This could not be  
Ranma. The evidence of the evening was just too overwhelming.  
Besides, Akane simply did not trust Ranma that far. And  
Ranma... The Ranma Nabiki knew would never allow such a thing  
to happen. Ranma would *never* in a million years do what  
Nabiki had just seen. There was simply no way.  
  
Shaking, trembling, with an odd burning feeling deep  
in her belly, Nabiki ran down the stairwell. Images off all  
the times she had bathed with Akane came unbidden to her mind.  
How could hew sister do something so... so...  
  
Nabiki shuddered as she reached the front of the  
building's lobby. What had just happened was so shocking and  
so alien to her that she had to run away. As if she had been  
caged, she burst from the apartment building doors and ran out  
into the night.  
  
Meanwhile, back in the store room, Akane gasped as two  
delicate fingers probed at her.  
  
"Mmmm... Akane..." Her companion whispered as she  
toyed with Akane's most sensitive part.  
  
"H-h-hot sh-shower, Ranma?" Akane suggested threw her  
nervously chattering teeth.  
  
Ranma only nodded, knocking her own wig to the floor  
beside Akane's.  
  
* * *  
  
"About time!" Ootaki shouted as Keiichi opened the  
front door.  
  
Keiichi nodded and sighed. "Hai, Sempai."  
  
"What'd I miss?"  
  
Keiichi scratched his chin. "Not much. Tendou-san and  
her cousin put on a cute dance number but Tamiya caught it on  
video if you want to see it."  
  
Ootaki nodded and headed back into the building. He  
left Keiichi with the clipboard and photos of all the people  
who weren't supposed to get in.  
  
It was a bit extreme, in Keiichi's opinion, to  
restrict only certain people rather than sticking to the  
invitation list his sister and her friend had crafted, but  
Megumi had stressed to him at some length the damage these  
people would cause if they were allowed inside.  
  
What he could do if one of them actually showed up and  
demanded entrance, he had no idea.  
  
*Oh, well,* he thought. *It was getting pretty warm  
inside, anyway.*  
  
There weren't very many people showing up this late  
into the evening. One or two came by, although none matched  
the photos.  
  
After several minutes, Sora Hasegawa showed up at the  
door in a 'Little Bo Peep' costume. She even had a cute little  
stuffed sheep.  
  
"Hello, Sempai. I'm sorry I'm late," she explained.  
"But I was having a little trouble getting my costume dry."  
  
"That's okay. You better go on up before Tamiya and  
Ootaki eat all the food."  
  
She nodded and smiled, heading for the doorway. Just  
before it closed, she looked back at him and giggled. "Cute  
costume, Sempai!"  
  
"Hey, thanks!" Now people liked his costume? What was  
going on here?!  
  
Keiichi sighed and looked back out over the darkened  
city. It had been a strange night.  
  
* * *  
  
The party was progressing pretty decently. Ranma and  
Akane's dance number had been a big hit and now other partyers  
were taking turns singing kareoke.  
  
After her turn on stage, Megumi bowed to the cheers of  
her audience and handed the microphone to the next performer.  
She ran down to the small table where Belldandy and Kasumi  
were talking animatedly.  
  
Both girls had several pages of recipes they had  
already exchanged and were now discussing medicine with the  
nervously trembling chiropractor.  
  
"Where's Keiichi?" she interrupted.  
  
Belldandy smiled and made a motion toward the front of  
the building. "Keiichi-san is taking his turn at the door."  
  
"Oh yeah." Megumi turned around, surveying the party.  
Things were keeping up steadily and as she had suspected, the  
catered food was about to run out. She and Akane had prepared  
however, and had several grocery sacks full of goodies stashed  
in her room. She'd have to get Akane to help her bring them  
down...  
  
"Has anyone seen Akane?" She asked.  
  
Kasumi and Belldandy both shook their heads.  
  
"I haven't seen Tendou-san since her dance," Belldandy  
offered.  
  
"I'm certain she's around here somewhere," Kasumi  
explained. "Akane's a responsible girl."  
  
Megumi turned to Skuld, who was sitting on the floor  
behind the table with several computerized gadgets lying  
around her. She studied them intently. Every once in a while,  
she would make a note or write a number down on a cocktail  
napkin.  
  
"Skuld?" Megumi tried to rouse the girl. "Would you  
come help me bring some more snacks down?"  
  
"Mm?" The girl answered absentmindedly. She brushed a  
long strand of ebony hair out of her face, and adjusted a  
lever on one of her devices.  
  
"I've got quite a bit of ice cream if you'll help me  
bring it down," Megumi offered.  
  
Skuld's face popped up. "Ice cream?"  
  
"Mmm-mmm!" Megumi put her finger to her chin, thinking  
of how best to reel the girl in. "I've got rocky-road, brownie  
butter-nut sprinkle, and--"  
  
Skuld's eyes widened and she sniffed the air once.  
"Chocolate ice cream?!"  
  
"And triple ripple fudge. Shame, really. It's all just  
sitting in my refrigerator when it could be down here."  
  
Skuld took a few painful glances at both her  
instruments and the expectantly waiting Megumi.  
  
*Arrgh!* Of course she was in the middle of something  
when an opportunity like this came along. Resignedly, she  
picked up her field sensor and shoved it into the waist band  
of her fuku. She got up, and bowed to Megumi. "Let's go," she  
accepted in a defeated tone.  
  
Megumi smiled wickedly as she led Skuld out of the  
party room. They walked trough the storage room hallway, and  
stepped into the elevator.  
  
On the fifth floor, they got out and opened the door  
to Megumi's apartment.  
  
"The refrigerator's over there by the cabinet," she  
motioned to Skuld. She picked up a spare laundry basket and  
began loading her stockpile of chips, candy, and other  
assorted junk food into it.  
  
With an expression of holy lust on her face, Skuld was  
carrying all six gallons of ice cream. The stack of cartons  
towered above her head but Megumi knew by the little pleasant  
noises she was making that Skuld couldn't be happier.  
  
"Ice cream..." she chanted, making her way through the  
door and back towards the elevator.  
  
Megumi smiled and scooted the basket out of the room.  
She was just turning to lock the door when she heard a noise  
coming from the bathroom.  
  
"...get this makeup...Akane..." a muffled feminine  
voice said from behind the closed door.  
  
Megumi nodded her head. Ranma was having trouble  
removing the makeup Megumi had applied to her face earlier.  
Akane was no doubt helping. The two would probably rejoin the  
party when they'd finished.  
  
Smiling, she closed the door and caught up with Skuld  
who was waiting in the elevator.  
  
Megumi pressed the second floor button.  
  
Just then, the device in Skuld's belt started beeping  
furiously.  
  
"What video game are you playing, Skuld?"  
  
"Mg mff mrrr," The girl tried to reply from around the  
towering burden of ice cream.  
  
* * *  
  
Akane stood, nervously transfixed as the naked Ranma  
scrubbed the makeup from her face.  
  
Almost of its own volition, her hands started moving  
to the clasps on her bodice. It just seemed to be so tense and  
dry in the tiny bathroom. Akane needed...  
  
Still trembling and breathing shallowly, Akane pulled  
the bustiere away from her chest. As it hit the floor with a  
little snap, Ranma's face jerked up from the cold water.  
  
Akane's breath left her again as Ranma's eyes sought  
out her naked breasts. Her nipples stiffened under the red-  
head's inspection.  
  
Trying to keep from jumping out of her skin, Akane  
reached into the glassed-in stall and started the warm water  
running. Ranma smiled warmly and nodded in approval. She  
returned her face to the cool water to finish removing her  
makeup.  
  
Feeling warmth rising in her fingertips Akane started  
to undo the buttons on her shorts. She pulled the tight vinyl  
down over her boots, leaving her self completely exposed  
before Ranma. The vinyl was uncomfortable in places, yet  
delightful in others, especially those which she had chosen  
not to cover with underwear.  
  
Now, when the costume was off, she felt so naked, so  
vulnerable...  
  
Finished with the makeup, Ranma stood to her full  
height and regarded Akane's nude body with lustful eyes. The  
red-head's breath quickened and her hands began to tremble.  
  
The warmth in Akane's hands spread to the rest of her  
body. She could feel the blush rising across her cheeks. She  
glanced down for a second and realized that it had spread  
across her breasts and belly as well.  
  
Ranma exhaled expectantly, her eyes boring into  
Akane's face and body.  
  
Trembling, she began to slide the boots down her legs.  
Obeying an impulse that she didn't understand the origins of,  
Akane did her best to make the movements as slow and  
deliberate as possible. By the time she pulled the last boot  
off, Ranma was fairly shaking.  
  
Akane noted that the red-head's nipples were, if  
anything, more erect than her own.  
  
Not rushing, rather trying to keep those slow, languid  
movements, Akane stepped into the running shower. The hot,  
spraying water beat down on her body, sending a new wave of  
sensation through her already over-sensitive skin. She  
shivered in pleasure as the water ran through her hair,  
drenching it instantly.  
  
Ranma stepped into the shower.  
  
Her excitement forgotten for the moment, Akane  
marveled at the change. She had seen it before, but now as  
they were laid bare in front of each other, it took on a  
specialness that Akane wondered if she would ever be able to  
recapture.  
  
Besides, for the first time, she could see the change  
work through Ranma's entire body at once.  
  
The red-head's body 'twitched', filling out almost  
instantly into its larger male proportions. Ranma's hair took  
a second or so longer to fade from the bright scarlet into its  
usual copper-tinted black color.  
  
With a nervous amusement, Akane noted that Ranma's  
member was quite flaccid, but rapidly expanding after the  
change.  
  
Realizing what she was looking at, the martial artist  
'eeped', and turned red with embarrassment.  
  
Akane sighed in contentment, now knowing that Ranma  
was every bit as embarrassed as she was. Taking the lead, she  
reached out and grabbed his hands, pulling on them slightly to  
indicate she wanted him closer.  
  
He complied, taking a quick step toward her. He  
enveloped her in his powerful arms, embracing her completely.  
Akane's hands found their way to lay against his wide,  
powerful pectorals. She could feel his chest brushing against  
her supersensitive nipples, as well as the rock hard shaft  
pushing up against her navel.  
  
She wondered at the feel of it. How something so...  
powerful... could be so gentle as to produce life.  
  
Akane moaned a little as Ranma's lips found that place  
just under her ear he had been so fond of in the storeroom.  
His hands quickly found her breasts again. With the cool  
feeling on her back and buttocks, Akane realized that he was  
holding her up against the wall of the shower as he kneaded  
her.  
  
Sliding down his sides, she let them come to rest on  
the sides of his stone-like buttocks. Gripping them tightly,  
Akane squeezed his body closer to hers, clenching his erect  
staff even tighter between them.  
  
She wanted to grasp it, feel her hands around it, feel  
the warm hardness that almost threatened her in some obscure  
way.  
  
As Ranma backed up so that he could suckle her breast,  
Akane took the opportunity to reach in between them and grab  
it at its base. Holding on tightly, not daring to let go,  
Akane felt his balls roll against her palm.  
  
For the first time, she was rewarded as Ranma groaned  
against her nipples. Daringly, yet keeping a firm grip, she  
teasingly pulled her grip up along the member.  
  
Ranma shuddered and squeezed both her breasts so  
tightly it very nearly hurt. In response, Akane increased the  
tension on his sac.  
  
Gasping, he broke away from her, still holding her  
against the wall by her shoulders. With a determined, almost  
cruel expression, he slid one hand down across her breast and  
belly until it covered her wet, streaming delta.  
  
He ran his fingers through her tight, dripping curls,  
pulling just a little.  
  
An evil grin crossing his face, his slowly slid his  
fingers in between her silken lips, spreading them against her  
legs.  
  
Akane's eyes went wide as Ranma pinched her clit.  
Pulling at it ever so slightly, he sent wave after wave of  
pleasure up her belly.  
  
She shrieked involuntarily and scrabbled at the tile  
wall as the martial artist masturbated her with short, quick  
movements.  
  
Just as her body was clenching, preparing for release,  
Ranma slid his hand even further back to push at her opening.  
  
Akane moaned in excited frustration. She pushed at his  
hand with her hips, trying to will it back to its previous  
location. Instead, she felt an even deeper feeling of pleasure  
growing deep inside her.  
  
Bringing his lips up close to her, he kissed her  
trembling mouth. He ran his fingers across her opening, trying  
to soak up the sensation. His world seemed to be focusing on  
that one thing. "I want to taste it," he whispered.  
  
Akane desperately nodded, her hands still grasping at  
the wall behind her.  
  
With slow, even movement, Ranma kneeled before her.  
Still pushing at her, he kissed the front of her, letting his  
mouth move over her lightly furred lips.  
  
At his prompting, Akane spread her legs slightly.  
Ranma gripped her buttocks at the base of her spine and held  
her up against the wall.  
  
Tenderly, Ranma pushed her lips apart and let his  
tongue dart across her clit.  
  
"AaaaaaAAAAA!" Akane moaned through clenched teeth at  
the sensation.  
  
Ranma 'mmmed' in response and started to lap at her  
folds. Akane leaned back against the wall to present even more  
of herself to the martial artist. Seeing the opportunity, he  
supported her entirely on his hands, allowing her to rest her  
heels against his sides.  
  
All Akane could feel was the incredible pulses of  
pleasure Ranma's tongue sent throughout her body. Her head  
rolled and a high pitched, continuous moan escaped her lips.  
  
In only a few precious seconds, Akane felt her self  
regaining the sensation she had lost. Her toes curled in  
anticipation and every hair on her body seemed to be standing  
on end.  
  
Ranma pulled his tongue away and flicked it across her  
delicate button.  
  
Akane screamed and dug her fingernails into Ranma's  
shoulders as her world exploded in pleasure. She rolled  
against Ranma's tongue as her orgasm continued, her breath and  
body clenching with each new pulse of ecstasy.  
  
Just as Akane realized that the sensation was growing  
almost intolerable in its intensity, Ranma pulled his mouth  
away from her and lowered her quivering body to the floor of  
the shower stall.  
  
She panted for several seconds, trying to fight the  
legarthy that was rapidly overcoming her.  
  
Through a haze, she realized Ranma was kneeling next  
to her, caressing her cheek. Pushing the sleepiness away, she  
lunged wrapping her arms around Ranma's neck and plastering  
her lips to his.  
  
Still kissing, Akane heard Ranma feel around for the  
shower knob. He turned it off, and gently lifted her off of  
the wet tile floor. Her eyes closed, she could feel him  
patting her dry with a towel, paying special attention to her  
breasts and vulva.  
  
After he finished drying himself, Ranma picked her up  
again and took her into the other room and laid her down upon  
her futon.  
  
* * *  
  
"I wonder what's taking Akane and Ranma so long?"  
Megumi mused, as she watched her brother dance with Belldandy,  
and Kasumi try to dance with the wildly gyrating Tofu.  
  
* * *  
  
"Akane..." he began, not really knowing what to say  
after such an intense event they had experienced in the  
shower.  
  
The girl shook her head and pulled Ranma down on top  
of her.  
  
Unspeaking, they simply kissed and ran their hands  
over each others's bodies. It was something they had done  
before, to a lesser degree. This time there was a nervousness  
and an urgency to their movements and touches that left them  
both quite breathless.  
  
Akane realized that the length of Ranma's shaft was  
still quite erect and pushing up against her. He wasn't trying  
to push in, but rather, letting her know that he wanted to.  
  
She began to tremble slightly, her knees rising  
involuntarily as Ranma began to gently rock against her waist.  
She could feel his breathing start to shallow, and realized  
that there was far too much moisture between them than could  
be explained by the shower.  
  
Ranma's hands went from caressing her shoulders and  
breasts to gripping her hips and rubbing nervously between her  
legs. He shifted his position slightly.  
  
Akane's breath caught as she felt his engorged head at  
her entrance.  
  
"Ranma, no!" she shouted.  
  
Ranma jerked back as if he had been hit. "A-a-akane?"  
he stuttered in a pained voice.  
  
"Not yet," she breathed. "What if I get pregnant?"  
  
Ranma's groaned as his eyes clenched closed in shock  
and disappointment.  
  
Akane wiggled out from underneath him and ran across  
the room and began to dig in her purse.  
  
Ranma sat up and tried to keep from yelling in  
frustration. He had been *so* ready. After all the time he and  
Akane had spent together, it seemed like they would never get  
*together* like this, no matter how much he wanted it.  
  
He had done so much to loosen up around her. So much  
to be more comfortable, and make her more comfortable around  
him. This evening's exhibition had merely been the capstone of  
his campaign to make them *companions* instead of just friends  
or innazuke.  
  
He looked back up when he realized Akane was standing  
over him.  
  
He didn't immediately understand what he saw, but the  
warm smile on Akane's face brightened his own spirit. The girl  
was standing in front of him, her short wet hair still  
plastered around her face and still quite naked. In her left  
hand she held what looked like a strip of plastic with little  
round indentions about...  
  
Ranma's mind froze back up. "R-r-ru-rub-rub..."  
  
Akane nodded. "Condoms... I thought..."  
  
"You were expecting this?!?!" Ranma asked,  
incredulously.  
  
"Well... we have been working up to it, haven't we?"  
she responded in a pleading tone. "I didn't think it had any  
chance of happening tonight, but I wanted it to happen soon."  
  
"You... want this as much as I do."  
  
Akane's blush deepened into a dark purple, but she  
nodded her assent. "H-hai... I... want to."  
  
*YES!!!!* Ranma cheered silently.  
  
Realizing that he was still fairly erect, Akane  
kneeled down in front of him and tore one of the packets off  
of the strip. Still trembling a little, she tore the package  
open, carefully trying not to touch what was inside.  
  
Ranma's mind continued to goggle at the quote on the  
packet. 'Spermicidally Lubricated for Your Protection'  
  
*And why not?* he thought to himself. *Better safe  
than sorry.*  
  
Akane held up the tiny disk of latex. Ranma stupidly  
stared as it glistened.  
  
*Does he expect me to put this on him?* Akane  
wondered. Ranma stared stupidly at the device, not making any  
indication of his intentions. *I've touched it before. Why  
shouldn't I?*  
  
With a nervous resolve, Akane reached down and placed  
the cap over Ranma's now ramrod straight erection. It seemed  
simple enough to roll the plastic down over his flesh, but  
Ranma seemed tense enough to explode when she looked back up  
at him.  
  
Ranma wasn't really expecting the sensation, and was  
simply amazed at how near to the end the simple act of Akane's  
trembling fingers pulling the condom down had brought him.  
  
With out another word, Ranma reached behind Akane's  
back and laid the girl back down. He started where he had left  
off, nibbling slightly at Akane's lower lip and grasping at  
her hips.  
  
He could feel Akane's juices running, starting to coat  
his firmly muscled stomach.  
  
"Akane?"  
  
"I'm ready, Ranma..."  
  
He took her head in his hand and kissed her as deeply  
and as firmly as he could. He braced himself with his other  
arm and positioned himself back at her entrance.  
  
He heard Akane gasp as he pushed the head of his latex  
covered staff in between her lips. With a firm, slow motion,  
he pushed into her, feeling a little tug as he did so.  
  
"T-tight..." he murmured.  
  
Akane gritted her teeth, her head arching back with  
the tearing sensation.  
  
"Does it hurt?" Ranma asked.  
  
Her breath coming in short, ragged gasps, Akane  
quickly nodded. "Yes, a little, but I was expecting it. Keep  
going, and I think it will stop."  
  
Ranma nodded and pulled out slightly and repeated his  
motion. Akane's face still showed some pain, but she groaned  
with the intense pleasure that was starting to accompany it.  
  
Ranma repeated his motion again and again, until it  
became a cycle rather than a pounding. As in the shower, Akane  
seemed to lose control of her voice, moaning in a high-pitched  
whine.  
  
With lustful wonderment, he discovered that he could  
make the moan rise in tone and volume if he tried to thrust up  
and in instead of just down.  
  
Ranma realized that he was groaning himself with the  
exertion of trying to keep from releasing himself. Each thrust  
was eroding his control. The velvety slickness of Akane's  
vagina was just too much to bear.  
  
He nearly lost it when Akane kicked and locked her  
ankles around his back. Her arms wrapped fiercely around his  
neck and she began to yell in short, loud bursts.  
  
"Akane?" he asked, wondering if he had somehow hurt  
her. Then he felt *it*. She was clenching down on his member  
with powerful contractions. He could feel the tension within  
her rise and fall as he continued to thrust.  
  
It proved too much for him. Akane's orgasm pushed him  
over the edge into his own. As the hot seed filled the condom,  
Ranma realized the pulsing spray matched Akane's contractions  
almost perfectly.  
  
He tried to keep pumping, but within seconds, both  
lovers were just too exhausted to continue.  
  
Ranma collapsed into Akane's embrace. He noticed that  
she was sobbing quietly.  
  
"Did I hurt you?" he asked.  
  
Akane shook her head. "No, it was wonderful... it  
was... I've wanted that for so long."  
  
Ranma pulled out of her and rolled over onto his side.  
He pulled Akane up next to him and let her bury her face in  
his shoulder.  
  
They just held each other for several minutes, their  
warmth and joy seeming to be the only thing in the world that  
mattered.  
  
"I love you," Akane said quietly.  
  
Ranma nodded and kissed her again. "I love you, too."  
  
His kiss turned into a series of kisses, and then into  
more caressing.  
  
Before very long, he realized that she was becoming  
wet again as he stroked her clit.  
  
"I'll be right back," he said, laying Akane's head  
down on the futon.  
  
"Ranma? What's--"  
  
He held up the used condom. "I gotta get another one  
of these, or we can't do it again, can we?"  
  
Her drowsy eyes opened wide with surprise and  
nervousness, but Akane couldn't bring herself to protest.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryouga had no idea where he has in relation to either  
the park or Ranma. All he knew was that he was wet, cold, and  
fifty feet in the air.  
  
*This is all Ranma's fault!* he thought bitterly to  
himself. His enraged 'bwee' was lost on the cool breeze.  
  
Bracing himself against the wind, he walked along the  
ledge, hoping to find an open window or perhaps someone who  
would let him inside. Being close to midnight,most of the  
windows were dark and all of them were closed.  
  
After following the curve of the building and turning  
a corner, Ryouga finally came across a window that was still  
lit. Thankfully, he pushed his nose against the glass and  
began to scrape the window with his tiny hoof.  
  
He moved a little, trying to see around the thin  
curtain into the apartment.  
  
*Akane?* Sure enough, it was Akane's face he saw  
inside the apartment. She was lying face-up on a futon, with a  
curious, expectant expression on his face.  
  
From his angle, he could only see her face. After a  
few seconds, her arms were thrust above her head, held by the  
wrists. Her head arched back, and Ryouga thought he heard her  
yell through the thick glass.  
  
Alarmed, Ryouga shifted his tiny porcine body, trying  
to get a better angle.  
  
Ryouga saw, and his world shattered.  
  
On top of Akane, who was quite naked, a man with his  
back to the window was positioned in between her legs,  
violently thrusting at her. He was holding her down, either  
unaware of her cries, or uncaring.  
  
Almost insane with grief and rage, Ryouga focused on  
the one thing familiar in the situation. The man's pigtail.  
  
* * *  
  
"Do you hear something?" Akane asked.  
  
Spent and exhausted from their continued lovemaking,  
Ranma laid down and kissed her, shaking his head.  
  
Akane smiled exultantly and wrapped her arms around  
Ranma.  
  
They lay together for some time, partaking again of  
the closeness and love between them. Not speaking, Ranma and  
Akane gently caressed each other, calmly this time, reveling  
in sensation and their nakedness.  
  
After another quarter hour, Akane quietly spoke. "Did  
you like that?" She asked.  
  
Ranma nodded. "It was... incredible. I wanted...  
you... for so long. It was like... like..."  
  
He exhaled sharply through his nose, not knowing what  
to say. Akane nodded, and kissed him again, sending a dozen  
little shivers down his spine.  
  
"What about you?"  
  
Akane let her head roll back. "It wasn't like I  
expected. I've heard so many stories where its just the woman  
letting the man do... things... to her. I never expected it to  
be so... so..."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Intense?"  
  
Instead of answering, Ranma closed the distance  
between them. He kissed the young woman in front of him,  
letting his hands reexplore her body. He cupped her breasts,  
gently teasing her nipples. He allowed one hand to slide down  
her belly and caress Akane's wet, sticky, velvety lips.  
  
She sighed happily. "You realize we've missed most of  
the party?"  
  
Ranma nodded. "It was worth it. It was worth  
anything."  
  
Akane stretched, and Ranma helped her to a sitting  
position. She briefly put a hand to his flagging staff, noting  
how soft the skin was against the still-firm tissue  
underneath.  
  
"We need to get back, or Megumi will wonder what  
happened to us." Akane warned.  
  
Ranma nodded. A little sadly, he got up and went to  
the sink to pour a cupful of cool water over his dark mane.  
  
Akane marveled again at the havoc the transformation  
played on Ranma's naked body.  
  
In reverse, just as it was in the other direction, the  
change was close to, but not quite, instantaneous. Akane could  
see the way it shifted the muscle under Ranma's skin. His hips  
pivoted as they adjusted to *her* stance. Her buttocks became  
more pronounced and rounded. Her shoulders, so wide when he  
was a man, slimmed and narrowed. Akane could see the way Ranma  
moved her hips and shifted her shoulders slightly to  
compensate for her changed center of balance. After only a  
second or two, Ranma had adjusted and turned back to her.  
  
Akane had already started to put her costume back on,  
but Ranma looked down dejectedly at her vinyl shorts.  
  
"I don't have to put those back on, do I?" She asked.  
  
Akane shook her head. Wearing only the bustiere, she  
stood and leaned up against Ranma's now delicate frame.  
  
In the past, she hadn't ever considered touching her  
new lover as another woman, actively telling herself that she  
would never do such a thing. After what they had shared in the  
store room however, Akane was given to wonder.  
  
Impulsively, Akane wrapped her arms around Ranma's  
neck and gently bussed her lips. "Not if you don't want to,"  
she offered quietly. "You can go naked! It's getting pretty  
late anyway."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Taking the opportunity for more naughtiness, they  
dressed each other, savoring each touch and feel. Their  
caresses soon turned to tickling, and by the time Ranma was  
wearing one of her regular Chinese outfits, and Akane was back  
in her bustiere and shorts, Ranma was chasing Akane down the  
hall, both of them laughing and giggling all the way.  
  
* * *  
  
Megumi stepped over Dama-kun, who had drank himself  
into a stupor after Urd had grown bored with him.  
  
A little tipsy herself, Megumi looked around the room  
in satisfaction. They had totally *destroyed* the place! The  
food was mostly gone, the decorations had been trashed, and  
someone had *eaten* the pumpkins. Most of the couples left in  
the room were either making out in secluded corners or dancing  
slowly to the soft music. This was one of the best parties she  
had ever been to and it was made all the more sweet by her  
participation in the planning.  
  
She smiled in satisfaction, seeing Kasumi and the  
spastic Tofu dancing together to the gentle strains of an  
unknown saxophonist.  
  
"Megumi," her brother interrupted her train of  
thought. "I just called a taxi for Masaya-san and her friends.  
They were just a bit far gone to be walking home."  
  
"Thanks Kei-chan," Megumi smiled wistfully. Things had  
gone so smoothly. It was a shame that both Akane and Ranma  
seemed to be missing. They were the hit of the party, but no  
one had seen them since their dance number.  
  
As if she had invoked their presence with her thought,  
the two young women stepped into the room from the rear  
entrance. Both had discarded their wigs, but Akane was still  
in her costume.  
  
"Ranm...ko, Akane! Where have you two been?" She  
demanded, skipping over to the pair.  
  
"Um..." Ranma stammered for a bit. "We had some  
trouble getting my makeup off."  
  
Megumi grinned wickedly. "Ohhhh.... I see."  
  
Ranma didn't understand why Megumi was acting the way  
she was, but Akane blushed furiously. *She couldn't know,  
could she?* the girl thought to herself.  
  
"Have you met Belldandy yet?" She asked. Ranma and  
Akane both shook their heads.  
  
Leading them over to her brother, Megumi introduced  
them.  
  
Nearby, Skuld sat in the middle of her sensors,  
waiting for *it* to happen again. One more peak would be all  
she would need to isolate the frequency range.  
  
Shoveling a large spoonful of melting brownie butter-  
nut sprinkle ice cream into her mouth, she made an adjustment  
to one of her equations. She had already narrowed it down to  
the electromagnetic field induction caused by the shifting  
electrons in a hydrogen bond process. For some reason, the  
peaks were activated by an energy transfer over a very  
specific frequency range on a very specific carrier.  
  
One more peak, and she would have the carrier! Skuld  
hooted, and celebrated with a spoonful of triple ripple fudge.  
Oh, this was her night, indeed!  
  
"...And that's Skuld," Megumi said. "She likes  
computers and robots."  
  
She looked up and waved, seeing the girl she had  
detected earlier talking with her sister, Megumi and Keiichi.  
  
With glee, Skuld prepared her equations.  
  
* * *  
  
In room 517, a young man had just let a piglet into  
his room from the ledge.  
  
"How'd you get out there, fella? Did you fall out a  
window?"  
  
The piglet wiggled out of his grip and ran for the  
front of the apartment.  
  
"Hey!" he shouted, chasing after the little animal.  
  
It paused at the front door way, sniffed, and turned,  
running into the bathroom. The piglet climbed into the shower  
and started grunting angrily at the faucet.  
  
"Oh, you're cold!" Not wanting to burn the piglet, the  
young man ran a stream of luke-warm water into the shower.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
After the young man passed out, Ryouga picked up some  
clothes from the floor of the apartment. He quickly pulled  
them on and ran out the door.  
  
* * *  
  
*BEEP* *PING*  
  
"Yes!" As the peak reading came back from her field  
sensor, Skuld threw the last figure into the equation. Within  
seconds, she had the carrier frequency. She plugged it into  
the emitter and let it charge.  
  
"So will you and Saotome-san still be getting married  
any time soon?" Belldandy asked.  
  
Her eyes widening a little bit, Akane looked over at  
Ranma. The red head was unresponsive, staring in horror at  
Keiichi's costume.  
  
"I think... that if we ever do want to get married, it  
will be after we're done with school." Akane answered. "Both  
our fathers gave us such a hard time."  
  
"I understand," Belldandy offered in return. Akane  
believed she did.  
  
The nervous young man shifted uncomfortably in his  
seat and tightened his grasp on Belldandy's hand, unsure what  
to do about the frightened glare the girl in front of him was  
making.  
  
Shaking her head, Ranma turned away from Keiichi.  
"That is a *terrifying* costume, man." She turned to Akane,  
shaking her head to try to clear the image. "Yeah, Ranma's dad  
is such a jerk. He got him engaged so many times that there  
was no way Ranma could--"  
  
She paused as Belldandy's little sister pointed some  
sort of device at her.  
  
"What's that?" she asked.  
  
The little girl only grinned evilly in response. She  
hit a button on the front of the device.  
  
Ranma suddenly felt a cold, tingling sensation,  
followed by a sudden warmth. Before she realized what had  
happened, she changed.  
  
In shock, everyone stared at Ranma in horror.  
  
Belldandy was the first to speak. "Skuld! What did you  
do to Ranko?!?!"  
  
"I didn't do anything, Onee-sama! This is the magic I  
was telling you about. I just triggered it. He's a  
shapeshifter! Look!" Skuld hit the button again. Within  
seconds, Ranma had changed back to female. Skuld hit the  
button a third time.  
  
"Cut that out, damnit!" Ranma tried to grab the  
emitter away from Skuld, who dodged back and began to yell in  
protest.  
  
"I don't understand!" Megumi shouted. "There was no  
water! How did Skuld do that?!"  
  
"You knew about this?" Keiichi demanded.  
  
"Just everybody shut up! All right?!" Angrily, Ranma  
stood to his full height. "Just who are you, thinkin' you can  
just play around with people's curses whenever you like?" he  
demanded of Skuld.  
  
Still in her fuku, Skuld rose and drew her debugging  
hammer. "He's got to be a shapeshifting demon." In the most  
authoritative tone she could muster with her small frame,  
Skuld called out, "I am Goddess of the Future, Second Class,  
restricted license, Skuld, and by the authority invested in me  
by Kami-sama, I command you BEGONE!"  
  
Kasumi and Tofu stopped dancing and looked over at the  
group in surprise.  
  
For a few seconds they just stared around at each  
other in shock and confusion. Skuld re-hefted her hammer at  
Ranma, once again demanding, "BEGONE!"  
  
"Goddess?!" Megumi and Akane shouted in unison.  
  
A worried expression appeared on Belldandy's face.  
  
"Begone?" Skuld pleaded.  
  
"Shapeshifter?!" Keiichi shouted.  
  
"He's not 'begonning'!" Skuld lamented.  
  
"Hey, everybody! What's up?" Urd asked, just having  
left another poor young man in the dust. She draped her arms  
over Keiichi and Belldandy's nervous shoulders  
  
*Then* the doors to the party room exploded in.  
  
"RAAANNNMMAAA!!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!!!" An enraged,  
heaving figure partially obscured by the dust from the  
explosion stood in the wrecked doorway.  
  
"Ryouga-kun!" Akane exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, my," Kasumi sighed worriedly from her position on  
the dance floor.  
  
"Yo, P-chan! Long time no see!" Ranma jumped into a  
defensive stance just in front of Akane, unfazed by the  
attack. He cracked his knuckles menacingly. "So what is it  
this time, Pig-boy? You just catch up with me and want to have  
it out for last time or have I done somethin' else to make you  
mad?"  
  
The wanderer stepped into the room over the wreckage  
of the door. His breath came in short ragged gasps, and he  
pulled several bandannas off his head and held them loosely in  
his hand.  
  
The remaining guests began to leave the room through  
the other exits, quietly trying to avoid the enraged man at  
door.  
  
Keiichi, seeing the figure in the dim light of the  
room, checked the clipboard in his hand again. Aside from the  
mismatched clothes, this guy's picture was at the top of the  
stack of people who weren't supposed to get in. Quietly he  
swore and began to tug on Belldandy's elbow. "I think we  
better get out of here, Bell-chan."  
  
Ryouga strode into the middle of the floor, now  
whirling the bandannas around his fist. An angry sneer crossed  
his face. With a growl he pointed at Ranma.  
  
"You raped Akane, you bastard! Now you burn in Hell!"  
  
"Hey!" Ranma shouted in response, "I didn't--"  
  
"RAPE?!" Akane cut him off. "No, it wasn't like that!  
I asked him to do it! Err..." Realizing what she had just  
admitted, Akane nervously glanced around the room. Most of the  
guests were gone, but Kasumi and Megumi were both staring at  
her with supremely surprised expressions.  
  
"Uh-oh," she whispered to no one in particular. An  
unwelcome blush covered her face and her ears began to burn as  
she looked up at Ranma.  
  
Ranma, on the other hand, seemed not to be paying  
attention. His concentration was focussed on the enraged  
warrior in front of him.  
  
Ryouga slung the bandannas at Ranma's feet and rushed  
the pigtailed martial artist. Ranma hopped over the bandannas,  
allowing them to cut through the carpet and padding and embed  
into the concrete underneath. Flipping over him, Ranma caught  
the other young man by the shoulders and sent him sprawling to  
the ground.  
  
"All right, Ryouga. You want to have it out, let's  
have it out." Ranma quietly uttered. Then he raised his voice  
and shouted, "I'm getting damn sick and tired of your crap,  
Pig-boy! This is IT! I was sick of you when I moved out, but  
now I'm *through* with you!"  
  
As the bandanna clad warrior rose to his feet, Ranma  
slammed a fist into Ryouga's gut, knocking him back several  
feet. Ryouga shrugged off the attack and lunged back at his  
attacker.  
  
"Ryouga-kun, no!" Akane shouted in terror.  
  
Ranma dodged his outstretched fist and grabbed Ryouga  
by the collar. He ran for the entrance of the party room,  
dragging the lost boy behind him.  
  
"Let's take this outside before we destroy any more of  
my security deposit than we have to," Ranma sarcastically  
sniped at his enemy.  
  
As Ranma ran into the stairwell and painfully dragged  
him down the rough, concrete and steel steps, Ryouga tried to  
twist his body to reach Ranma.  
  
He couldn't quite reach however, and in a few seconds,  
Ranma had him outside the building. Ryouga found himself  
thrown painfully up against a brick planter. He groaned and  
rose to his feet, staring angrily up at the coldly grinning  
Ranma in the dim light provided by the street lamps.  
  
"How could you?" he demanded.  
  
Ranma shook his head. "You're as thick as dirt,  
Ryouga. Didn't you hear what Akane said? She wanted it as much  
as I did, idiot."  
  
"NO!" Ryouga shouted and lunged for Ranma. His fist  
grazed Ranma's arm, but the pigtailed young man avoided the  
brunt of the attack. "Akane would never want that!"  
  
Ranma countered with several quick jabs to Ryouga's  
side. Ryouga huffed, turned and caught Ranma on the thigh with  
a quick chop.  
  
Ranma danced away, leapt for the wall of the building  
and used it to push off of in a straightforward dive at his  
enemy.  
  
"Who says she wouldn't? She loves me, you dolt!"  
  
Ryouga took Ranma's fist in the gut again, but simply  
swatted Ranma away in his rage.  
  
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" he cried. "AKANE DOES NOT LOVE  
YOU!!!! She can't love you!"  
  
Ranma drove several more quick jabs into Ryouga's  
body. "Why, 'cause she loves you? Don't think so, piggy.  
You're her *pet*, Ryouga, and you'll never be anything else.  
Hear me? It's time to get in touch with reality."  
  
Ryouga punched at Ranma, and dug several bricks out of  
the planter in the process.  
  
Ranma turned and planted a powerful kick across  
Ryouga's sternum, sending him flying across the courtyard.  
Ryouga stood, realizing that he had very narrowly missed  
landing in a decorative fountain. He snarled and threw a few  
more bandannas in Ranma's general direction.  
  
"Do you think turning me into a pig is going to help  
you, Ranma? I'll track you to the end of the earth! You're  
already dead, Ranma!"  
  
"Ryouga, no!" It was Akane. Ranma spared a brief  
glance over to where Akane, Kasumi, Tofu, and Megumi had  
gathered with Keiichi and his friends. "Stop fighting!" she  
pleaded.  
  
Ranma scowled and narrowed his gaze at the other young  
man. "You think turnin' you into a pig means anything to me?  
I'd rather you get cured right now! I'm so sick of you I could  
puke."  
  
He dodged one of Ryouga's kicks and leapt up on the  
planter. "I'm sick of keeping your secrets, I'm sick of  
protecting you when I should be kickin' your ass, and I'm God-  
damn sick and tired of what you're doin' to Akane. It's over,  
Ryouga." He leveled his fist at Ryouga and leapt. "I just quit  
worryin' about your curse altogether!" he hissed, striking  
Ryouga across the jaw.  
  
He followed with roundhouse kick to the side of  
Ryouga's head and finished with leg sweep that sent the lost  
boy to his knees.  
  
Ranma jumped back out of his enemy's reach and taunted  
him. "You think she'll love P-chan so much when she finds he's  
just a pervert with a curse?"  
  
"That'll never happen, Ranma."  
  
"Oh, who's gonna help you out the next time you trip  
and fall into the pond. I sure as hell ain't gonna be there to  
do it." Ranma crossed his arms.  
  
"Rannnmaaaa!" Ryouga growled, climbing to his feet.  
Ranma could see that he was far beyond anything remotely  
resembling reason.  
  
The lost boy's hands began to glow as his rage  
deepened.  
  
"You're just some freak with a curse, Ryouga." Ranma  
continued to taunt. Sensing Ryouga's attack, he steadied his  
legs to jump out of the way. "She'll hate you for the rest of  
her life if she finds out, Ryouga, and I ain't gonna do a  
thing to stop her."  
  
"NO!" Ryouga cried. He held his hands up and gathered  
his ki.  
  
"Hey," Keiichi shouted from his vantage by the door.  
"Cut it out before someone calls the police!"  
  
Ryouga whipped around to see who shouted at him.  
  
Then he saw... the demon and angel... holding hands.  
Something primitive inside Ryouga snapped. What he saw was  
*not* supposed to happen. Ryouga gasped and lost control  
of the Shi shi houkodan in his shock. Unfettered, it flew  
towards Keiichi with a speed borne of Ryouga's shock and  
terror.  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide. "Ryouga, no! Don't!"  
  
Belldandy had been watching the fight with a nervous  
curiosity, trying to gauge who or what the combatants really  
were. If what Ranma said was true, he was merely the victim of  
a spell.  
  
Belldandy had to be sure. She also had to be sure the  
other young man was nothing but.  
  
Then, he released his ki at Keiichi. Belldandy's world  
froze. Calmly, coldly, she stepped in front of Keiichi. The ki  
blast hit.  
  
Ryouga, as well as everyone around her, stared in  
shock as the Goddess simply absorbed his Shi shi houkodan into  
her outstretched palms.  
  
She screamed and re-released it into the sky. With an  
furious expression, she then turned her attention back towards  
the rampaging martial artist. With an outstretched fist, she  
caused him to be lifted into the air and pinned inside  
crushing restraint.  
  
"THOU SHALT NOT HARM MY LOVE!!!!" she cried, tossing  
Ryouga into the air with her will.  
  
"Wow," Ranma breathed, watching the other martial  
artist fall somewhere on the roof of his building.  
  
"And you!" Belldandy shouted, striding up to Ranma.  
"How dare you place Keiichi and Megumi in such danger?!?!"  
  
"Hey, lady! It wasn't me! How about you goddesses quit  
messin' with my curse? I got enough problems without you just  
changing me in the middle o' everything." Ranma retorted. "I  
coulda still been wearing my costume when I changed. Now how  
would that a' looked?"  
  
Keiichi and Megumi insinuated themselves between the  
furious martial artist and goddess.  
  
"Let's all calm down," Megumi prompted as she placed  
herself in front of Ranma. "I think we've had just enough  
fighting for tonight. Okay?"  
  
Keiichi was shocked at the angry expression on  
Belldandy's face. He had never seen her so upset before. She  
was so angry tears were beginning to form in her eyes.  
  
"Belldandy," he said, trying to soothe her. "It's all  
right now. Everything's okay."  
  
Ranma exhaled and relaxed, letting the fight leave  
him. He turned away from the goddess and walked back towards  
the frightened Akane.  
  
"All-right buster," Megumi scolded once Keiichi had  
managed to calm Belldandy down. "What's the big idea of not  
telling *ME* you were dating a real *goddess*.  
  
Keiichi patted Belldandy's shoulder and turned to face  
his sister.  
  
"I suppose that asking you why you didn't tell me you  
were living in the same apartment as a shape shifting martial  
artist is out of the question, then?"  
  
Megumi's face took on a shocked, angry expression.  
"How could you say such a thing?"  
  
Keiichi shrugged. "I don't see much difference between  
what you did and what I did."  
  
"But... But it is different!"  
  
"How?" Keiichi demanded.  
  
At a loss, Megumi struggled to say something,  
anything. She turned her face down in frustration.  
  
"Listen, Megumi," Keiichi offered. "We were both  
trying to protect our secrets."  
  
"It was still wrong of you to keep something like that  
from me."  
  
"Yes," Belldandy interjected, having regained her  
composure. "It was wrong to lie, but Keiichi only wanted to  
protect you and me."  
  
With a shamed expression on his face, Keiichi nodded  
his agreement. "I'm sorry..." he offered.  
  
"I guess... I'm sorry for keeping Ranma's curse  
secret, too. He's been having such a hard time trying to have  
a normal life, and I wanted to help."  
  
Urd strode up behind her. "I don't see why, with that  
stunt they pulled earlier," she countered, referring to the  
dance number.  
  
Megumi shrugged. "Akane and I have also been trying to  
get him to lighten up. They had a good time if nothing else."  
  
"I'm sorry I put you in this position, Megumi."  
Keiichi apologized. "I worry so much about someone trying to  
abuse you or Belldandy that I forgot I was lying to you."  
  
"Well, just don't keep anything like this from me  
again, Kei- chan."  
  
Belldandy nodded her agreement at Keiichi, who  
hesitantly nodded again. "Only if you do the same thing,  
okay?"  
  
Megumi nodded and hugged her brother.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryouga rose from his daze and realized that somehow,  
he was back on top of the roof.  
  
"THIS IS ALL RANMA'S FAULT!" he shouted to the dark,  
uncaring sky. Well, Ranma's and the weird girl back on the  
ground. He screamed his frustration and ran to the edge. Down  
below, he could see Ranma and Akane gathered around the  
fountain with all the others.  
  
Angrily, he found his drain pipe and began to shimmy  
down again. As he promised, *nothing* would stand in the way  
of his vengeance. He had almost made it back down to the fifth  
story when he remembered that the length of the pipe that had  
broken away earlier.  
  
* * *  
  
"What the hell is he doin' now?" Ranma muttered  
angrily. He then jumped a little as the drain pipe gave a loud  
'snap' and leaned dangerously away from the wall.  
  
"Ranma, he'll fall!" Akane warned, staring up at the  
struggling martial artist.  
  
"Oh, my! Ryouga-kun!" Kasumi's clenched her hands in  
fear for the young man while the haze that almost perpetually  
covered Tofu's glasses these days evaporated away. He pushed  
his glasses up on his nose and quickly evaluated the  
situation. If Ryouga fell then...  
  
Akane and Kasumi both screamed as the pipe slid out of  
its bracket and came away from the wall altogether.  
  
Tofu laid a firm hand on Kasumi's shoulder. "He'll  
fall in the fountain," he informed her, watching the young man  
drop with a great splash.  
  
Ranma started nervously but then, with a mean  
expression, he just crossed his arms and watched. Standing  
well away, he observed the others run toward the fountain.  
Akane was the first to make it. After a few seconds she  
reached in and pulled out a slightly dazed miniature black  
piglet.  
  
"P-chan?" Involuntarily, Akane's left eye twitched.  
  
"Oh, my..." Kasumi whispered. Doctor Tofu's eyes went  
wide as well. Megumi looked back at Ranma, who only nodded the  
answer to her unspoken question with a look of cool  
satisfaction.  
  
"How did you get here, P-chan?" Akane cooed to the  
piglet. "And where is Ryouga-kun?"  
  
Megumi, Kasumi and Tofu facefaulted. Ranma covered his  
face and shook his head in disgust.  
  
Something was horribly wrong here, Akane thought as  
she held the wet piglet close to her breasts. With a happy  
squeal he wormed his way in between them, nearly dislodging  
Akane's bustiere.  
  
She looked around in nervous anxiety, not really  
understanding why everybody was staring at her.  
  
Skuld, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She had  
finally eliminated all unidentified sources of magic.  
  
"There!" Skuld gleefully shouted, waving her sensor.  
"There's another one!" she cried, pointing to P-chan who was  
trying to give Ranma a red-eye from his position in between  
Akane's vinyl clad breasts.  
  
Akane's eye twitched again. She nervously looked over  
at Ranma, and the almost evil grin that was rapidly spreading  
across his face. "Another what?" she asked, calmly.  
  
"Another shapechanger! Look!" Skuld adjusted a dial on  
her gadget, and a purple flash erupted in Akane's arms.  
Dropping the sudden weight, she opened her eyes to see a  
completely naked Ryouga desperately trying to cover himself at  
her feet.  
  
"Heh..." Ryogua coughed nervously.  
  
Urd put a finger to her chin in thought. "Must be  
Jusenkyou. That would explain Ranma's change as well. I never  
thought I would see one outside China, though."  
  
Akane's expression blanked in shock.  
  
Ranma gave a low chuckle.  
  
"R-r-r-ryouga?" Akane stammered.  
  
The bandanna clad young man cast about desperately for  
something to cover himself. He reasoned that his clothes were  
still floating in the pool and that if he could just fish them  
out... He 'urked' as an enraged fist closed around his throat.  
He stood as he was lifted to his feet.  
  
"Ryouga?" Akane held him at arm's length, occasionally  
flexing her fist. "You... Jusenkyou... and... P-chan? *P-  
Chan*?! *P- CHAN*?!?!"  
  
Ryouga stared in horror as a holy rage crossed Akane's  
eyes. Her eyes widening in anger, Ryouga could very clearly  
see her pupils dilating.  
  
Her head snapped to one side. She glared at Ranma.  
"You knew about this!" she accused.  
  
Ranma nodded. "Yup."  
  
"Then why didn't you--"  
  
"Tell you?" Ranma calmly shrugged, keeping his eyes on  
the situation in front of him. "I swore I wouldn't, but I  
tried to let you know a couple different times. All I got for  
my effort was a 'quit picking on P-chan'.  
  
And... Akane realized it was true. Ranma *had* tried  
to tell her, or drop hints about it on several occasions. All  
the half-truths, little clues, exclamations of 'Pig-boy' fell  
sickly into place in her mind. Ranma had tried to protect her  
at every turn and all she had done was abuse him for it.  
  
With a sick feeling in her chest, Akane stared in  
horror at the shamefaced young man in front of her. She just  
couldn't believe that...  
  
*P-chan...* she thought.  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"  
  
Almost nauseous with rage, confusion, and guilt, Akane  
threw Ryouga to the ground.  
  
"Akane, wait, please--" Ryouga begged. Akane cut him  
off with a sharp kick to the jaw.  
  
Unable to bring himself to his own defense, Ryouga  
merely pulled his arms up over his face, allowing Akane to  
drive enraged kick after kick into his chest and belly.  
  
Tofu stepped in to intervene, but Ranma held his  
shoulder. "They've had this comin' for a while, Doc. 'Sides,  
Ryouga's too tough for that to hurt him."  
  
"I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU..." she  
screamed, over and over again as she struck.  
  
Ryouga tried to rise to beg his apology, but Akane  
beat him back down to the ground with wild, angry, overhand  
blows. She pounded and kicked at him, relentlessly taking out  
her fury and pain.  
  
Finally, she picked him back up by the neck and nailed  
Ryouga with a vicious uppercut that sent him flying across the  
courtyard.  
  
The lost boy looked back sadly at the still raging  
Akane. With a snarl, he turned to Ranma. "THIS IS ALL YOUR  
FAULT, RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!"  
  
"NO!" Akane ran across the courtyard and planted the  
flat of her boot into Ryouga's naked back. "This is *your*  
fault, pervert. Get away from me, I never want to see you  
again!"  
  
"Akane," Ranma called.  
  
"If I ever do see you again, so help me, I'll put you  
on leash and have you neutered!"  
  
Ryouga blanched and turned green at Akane's  
imprecations. He stood, only to be angrily slapped. He watched  
for a second as Akane turned away for him and ran into Ranma's  
waiting embrace. Burying her face in his chest, she began to  
wail like a lost soul.  
  
Ranma only glared at him, shaking his head sadly.  
Despairing, Ryouga turned, and walked out of the courtyard.  
His pace quickened into a run. He felt so ashamed. Ashamed and  
alone.  
  
Ranma watched him go, and turned his attention back to  
Akane, who was sobbing uncontrollably.  
  
"Why?!" She demanded in between sobs.  
  
Ranma took a deep breath and began to explain. Kasumi,  
Tofu and the others gathered around to hear as well.  
  
"It's my fault," he admitted. "I knocked him into the  
spring when I was runnin' around crazy after *I* got cursed. I  
didn't even realize I had done it until he caught up with me  
here."  
  
Ranma smoothed his lover's hair and continued,  
including those around him in his narrative. "When I first  
found out, I promised him I would never tell. Honor between  
enemies, that sort of thing. Then Akane picked 'em up and made  
a pet out of him. I tried to get Ryouga to admit it, but he  
had decided he was in love, and wouldn't do anything about  
it."  
  
Akane shuddered inside Ranma's embrace. After the  
incident with the waterproof soap a few years back, she had  
suspicions that Ryouga had a crush on her, but later thought  
that he was firmly in love with Akari. To do something so...  
sick... and *depraved* to her, simply boggled her mind.  
  
"I sneaked into Akane's room a couple times to try and  
get him out, but he always woke Akane up," he explained.  
  
Kasumi nodded, embarrassedly remembering the morning  
she had given her sister and Ranma an angry lecture on  
propriety.  
  
"Since I couldn't just come out and say anything, I  
tried to minimize the damage. I hadn't seen him since me and  
Akane started gettin' along better, so I figured the problem  
was over. I was wrong, I guess."  
  
Akane continued to sob. "Ranma, please don't do  
anything like that again!" she pleaded. "I want-- Promise me!"  
  
Ranma nodded and patted the girl on the back. "I  
promise. You're more important to me than that. I wanted to  
tell you so many times, but it never came out right."  
  
Akane cried herself out, under the concerned gazes of  
her friends and family. After a few minutes, she gently pulled  
out of Ranma's embrace.  
  
"I'm sorry about all this. I never wanted to embarrass  
everyone like this."  
  
Belldandy bowed her head slightly. "I think that what  
happened couldn't have been avoided, Tendou-san." She turned  
to her sister. "Skuld, have you apologized to Saotome-san for  
invading his privacy?"  
  
"But--" A stern glare from both her sisters, Keiichi  
and Megumi cut her off. Dejectedly, she walked up to Ranma and  
bowed.  
  
"I'm sorry, Saotome-san."  
  
"Hey's it's okay," Ranma accepted. "Things just got  
out of hand. Just don't do it again. I get rained on often  
enough without the gods personally interfering," he joked.  
  
Seriously, Keiichi raised his voice. "That's something  
else we need to talk about. I'd really rather that Skuld, Urd  
and Bell-chan's identities didn't become public knowledge."  
  
Akane and Kasumi both nodded.  
  
"Yeah," Ranma exclaimed, shaking hands with Keiichi.  
"We're all *real* good at keeping secrets. Believe me."  
  
Akane sighed and looked around the small group. "I  
guess we should get started on cleaning up Ryouga's mess."  
  
Everyone agreed and headed back inside the building.  
Just before the door closed, Ranma asked, "Hey, are we still  
on for lunch, tomorrow?"  
  
* * *  
  
Epilogue:  
  
As the sun started to peek above the houses, Nabiki  
found herself just outside the dojo. Almost in a daze, she had  
been walking all night. Her perception of the world had been  
altered radically, and she had no idea how to deal with that.  
  
Nervously, she stepped through the gate and walked up  
to the house. Planning to try to come to grips with what she  
had learned about her sister, she let herself in and started  
up the stairs to her room.  
  
Surprising her, Genma and Soun burst out and stopped  
her on the stairway.  
  
"Hey, what's the big idea?" she demanded as she re-  
caught her breath.  
  
"Tell us!" Genma begged.  
  
"Yes, tell us, daughter." Soun prompted. "Who is  
Akane's boyfriend. Is it Ranma?"  
  
"We've been waiting all night to find out," Genma  
explained.  
  
Her instincts reasserted themselves, trying to bring  
some semblance of normalcy back to her life. She held her hand  
out.  
  
"You both know the rules," she chided. "For something  
this big, I'm going to have to ask for quite a fee. Uncle  
Saotome, 10,000 yen."  
  
The bulky martial artist paled, but pulled out a bill  
from his gi.  
  
"Daddy, I'm going to need a raise in my allowance."  
  
Soun's expression broke. "Another one?"  
  
"You do want to find out about Akane, don't you? It  
will only set you back another thousand yen a week."  
  
Soun wailed but nodded when Genma slapped him on the  
back.  
  
"Okay," Nabiki lowered her voice to a whisper. "The  
reason Akane is being so secretive is that she doesn't have a  
boyfriend and she wants everyone to think she does."  
  
"She doesn't have... a... boyfriend?" Genma shook his  
head in disbelief. "But--"  
  
Nabiki held her hand up to cut him off. "I said Akane  
doesn't have a boyfriend. She has a girlfriend instead."  
  
The sound of two jaws hitting the floors reverberated  
through the dojo.  
  
Soun visibly paled. "My little girl is a l... l...  
l...  
  
"Lesbian, Daddy. Akane's a lesbian. I saw them making  
out together at the party last night."  
  
Nabiki noted a light on in the kitchen as her father  
and Genma started to wail.  
  
Inconsolably, the two martial artists collapsed  
against each other. After a few seconds, Genma pulled Soun to  
his feet and dragged him to the door.  
  
"There is nothing for us to do but mourn our loss and  
drown or sorrows, Tendou-kun" Genma sobbed.  
  
"Whaaaaaaaa!!!!" Soun bawled like a baby as he was  
dragged out the door.  
  
Nabiki turned on the stairway to see Kasumi standing  
in the doorway to the kitchen.  
  
"Nabiki-chan. Could you come here for a second before  
you go to bed?"  
  
Nabiki pointed a finger at her nose, but reversed her  
path down the stairway and walked into the kitchen.  
  
Tofu was sitting at the counter, sipping at a mug of  
hot tea.  
  
Kasumi, who looked as if she had just gotten up,  
handed another mug to Nabiki.  
  
"Did you have a good time at the party, last night?"  
She asked her younger sister.  
  
"Party?" Nabiki denied her sister's statement. "I  
didn't go to a party last night."  
  
"Oh, Nabiki, your tree costume was very cute! You  
should have stayed for the kareoke. You would have been a big  
hit."  
  
Nabiki's eyes widened in shock. "So I guess you know  
about Akane, then," She prodded.  
  
Kasumi nodded cheerfully. "Oh yes. Didn't you think  
she and Ranma cute in their costumes, too?"  
  
Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "Listen, I may have been at  
the party, but I *know* Ranma wasn't there."  
  
"Of course he was," Tofu commented. "You saw their  
dance number didn't you."  
  
"Dance... ?" Nabiki shook her head. "That wasn't  
Ranma! I checked!"  
  
She suddenly felt unsure of her conclusion as knowing  
grins spread across both Kasumi and Tofu's faces.  
  
"People do change when you don't see them for several  
months," Tofu explained.  
  
With a shocked expression, Nabiki turned to her  
sister. Kasumi nodded her confirmation with a cheery smile.  
  
"But... but..." Nabiki turned in rage. Ranma? Ranma  
managed to deceive *her*? Ranma?!?! Poor, stupid, Ranma?  
Nabiki stifled the urge to scream.  
  
*I'll sell his address for a thousand yen!* she  
thought. *I'll have Kunou, Kodachi, Ukyou, Shampoo, Mousse and  
Ryouga all knocking at his door by noon.*  
  
Warned by the angry expression on her face, Kasumi  
laid a calm hand on her shoulder. "You will keep your promise  
to Akane, won't you?"  
  
"Promise? I didn't make any promise!" Nabiki  
exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, didn't you promise not to reveal anything you  
might find out at the party?" Kasumi asked, her smile taking  
on a steely hardness.  
  
"But I didn't--"  
  
"Nabiki," Kasumi warned. "You *will* keep your  
promise. You won't make their lives hard by telling father or  
Uncle Saotome, will you?" The way she said it was more of a  
statement than a question. Then, nailing the lid down on her  
coffin, Kasumi pulled Nabiki into a firm embrace. "I believe  
in you, little sister!"  
  
After releasing her, Kasumi and Tofu continued their  
quiet conversation about Ryouga.  
  
*My family has conspired against me.* In an angry  
daze, Nabiki stumbled out of the kitchen and ran up stairs.  
She was going to wake Akane up and give her a piece of her  
mind. How dare she--  
  
Akane's bed was unslept in, Nabiki realized as she  
opened the door to her sister's bedroom. Aside from the boxes  
for her costume, the only thing unusual about the room was a  
note left on Akane's dresser.  
  
All it said was, "Nabiki, Don't wait up. Love, Akane."  
  
In shock, Nabiki collapsed on her sister's bed  
clutching the note to her chest.  
  
Akane wouldn't! But...  
  
Nabiki realized that Akane probably *had*.  
  
With Ranma.  
  
And Nabiki missed it.  
  
Nabiki sighed, and gently laughed herself to sleep.  
  
------------------------------  
  
Author's Notes - 10-12-2000  
  
The single largest complaint I've received about this story,  
*any* of the 'Apartment' stories for that matter is that fact  
that Urd spikes Ranma and Akane's drinks. I've had numerous  
requests to change it, but I'm not going to.  
  
Like the first two revisions, the *biggest* changes are  
grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. There are a few  
textual changes, but nothing major.  
  
I'd like to thank everyone who's written me about RA,  
including my prereaders for RA4. I'd like to have gotten back  
to you by now, but real-life interferes, mostly in the form of  
auto problems. I've spent the last two days trying to find a  
new car, and have all the stress that goes along with that.  
  
At any rate, RA4 is still going to be posted tomorrow, unless  
Second Impact hits. The way my week's been going, it would  
almost be a releif.  
  
C.  
  
http://www.furinkan.net/  
  
  
"When Schrodinger's cat's away, the mice may   
or may not play, no one can tell."  
  
- Francis Heaney, Modern Humorist  
  
  
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	4. Storms

This and all my other fanfiction is available at  
http://www.furinkan.net  
  
From ffml-bounce@fanfic.com Sat Oct 14 21:43:15 2000  
  
(10-14-2000)  
------------------------------  
  
Hiroshi Tanaka was a meteorologist at the University of  
Japan in Tokyo. He taught a few classes, typed up a few  
reports, and wished he could get a higher paying job on  
television. His main concern, however, was to watch the radar  
weather maps for trouble that could affect the country. When  
severe weather threatened, it was Hiroshi's job to calculate  
the chance that it would actually strike.  
  
Currently, he was poring over a satellite map of the  
South Pacific. A little blob of white on a sea of black labeled  
'117' was his current concern.  
  
A coworker, the man who'd brought the map to Hiroshi's  
attention, looked over his shoulder.  
  
"It's one hundred fifty percent larger than this same  
time yesterday?" Hiroshi asked.  
  
The other man nodded. "Radar suggests that wind speeds  
inside are picking up as well."  
  
"Hmm... I really think it's coming in too fast to grow  
very large," Hiroshi noted. "Also, it should catch this current  
and turn North and curve away before it ever comes close to the  
mainland."  
  
The coworker nodded.  
  
Hiroshi stopped him just before he walked off. "Let's  
upgrade it to 'Tropical Storm' status and issue some sea swell  
warnings."  
  
"Right!"  
  
----------------------------------------  
Ranma's Apartment: 4 - Storms  
  
A Ranma 1/2 - Aa! Megami-sama Fanstory  
by Chris Jones  
----------------------------------------  
  
"Ms. Tendou, you can come back now."  
  
Akane winked at Megumi and hopped out of her seat.  
  
"Good luck, Akane!" Megumi whispered.  
  
She followed the nurse out of the waiting room and into  
the main office.  
  
"Step up here if you would," the nurse prompted,  
gesturing to a balance scale.  
  
Akane set down her book bag and stepped onto the short  
platform.  
  
"Hmm..." The nurse made the fine adjustments necessary to  
gauge the girl's weight. "Fifty-two kilograms and," she  
adjusted the level at the top of the scale. "152 centimeters.  
You've lost two kilos since your last checkup."  
  
"I've been training a lot lately," Akane offered in  
explanation. "My... boyfriend has really been putting me  
through the wringer lately."  
  
"The martial artist?"  
  
Akane nodded.  
  
"This way please." The nurse led Akane into an  
examination room and pulled a white cotton gown out of a low  
cabinet. "Go ahead and change into this if you would. I need to  
get some more supplies but I should be right back."  
  
After Akane had changed into the thin gown, the nurse  
returned with several evil-looking devices. Akane shivered  
nervously in expectation but tried to relax. It was just part  
of the exam. after all.  
  
A few minutes later it was all over. The nurse made a few  
cursory notes on her tablet and handed a sheet of paper to  
Akane.  
  
"These are the results of your tests from yesterday. No  
infections, no STD's and you aren't currently pregnant."  
  
Even though she had been expecting it, Akane breathed a  
sigh of relief.  
  
"I take it you were worried," the nurse asked.  
  
Akane shook her head. "Not really. My period's just not  
that regular. We... ummm..."  
  
"Had intercourse?"  
  
"Yes. That. We were using... protection, but I'm really  
not sure that either one of us will remember that very well."  
  
The nurse saved her from further embarrassment. "It's  
good you've decided to take steps. So have you decided what  
kind you'd like to try yet?"  
  
Akane nodded. "I've been looking at the literature you  
gave me, and I've been asking around a little. My sister just  
got on the pill because she's about to get married, but I'm a  
little forgetful for that. I think I'd like to try the shots."  
  
"Good choice. They're very reliable."  
  
Less than fifteen minutes later, Akane strode into the  
waiting room of the clinic with only slightly less of a blush  
than she had when she walked in.  
  
Megumi dropped her magazine and ran over to the girl.  
"Did you do it?" she asked of her friend.  
  
Akane nodded, trying to keep her blush from deepening. "I  
did it," she whispered. Exhaling noisily, she grabbed Megumi by  
the arm and dragged her from the clinic. "Come on already!"  
  
In the embarrassed rush, neither Akane nor Megumi noticed  
that the dark-haired receptionist watching them leave was not  
the same one who had watched them come in.  
  
*So,* the receptionist thought to herself. *The perverted  
Akane Tendou seeks to seduce my Ranma-sama with her pathetic  
body. This will not do...*  
  
The rest of the clinic shuddered in horror as a crazy  
laugh echoed off the walls.  
  
* * *  
  
"What really gets me is just how awful they make all the  
possible side affects seem," Megumi complained.  
  
Akane smirked her affirmation. "Irregular menstruation,  
bloating, bleeding, hair loss, possible stroke..."  
  
"It's rare, but it happens," Megumi informed her. "I've  
never actually *heard* of it happening, mind you."  
  
"Weight-gain..." Akane shuddered, and started trying to  
look behind herself as the two girls walked down the sidewalk.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Megumi, be honest with me. Do I look like I'm getting  
fat?"  
  
Megumi paused in midstride and guffawed. "Yahright."  
  
"Really... Be serious."  
  
"I am being serious!" Megumi retorted. "With the kind of  
training Ranma's been giving you lately, I wonder if you have  
any body fat at all."  
  
In truth, the lessons Megumi had been taking from her  
suitemate were doing absolutely marvelous things to her thighs  
and backside as well. Curves were a very nice thing to have,  
but when you had curves *and* the kind of fine toning Ranma's  
brand of training put on your body...  
  
"Look out, Nekomi!"  
  
"What?" Akane paused after only a few more steps, looking  
back at the girl with confusion.  
  
Actually, with girls like Akane and Belldandy around, the  
men probably wouldn't look twice at Megumi, she thought sadly.  
She groaned in mock pain. "I was just thinking..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't worry about it. You look fine, Akane. Trust me!"  
  
They walked a few more meters.  
  
"Now that I'm... Now that I've taken the shot, would you  
tell me if you are..."  
  
Megumi grinned wickedly. "Actually, I've been on the pill  
since I was twelve."  
  
"WHAT?!?!"  
  
She chuckled in amusement. "I've never had occasion for  
it to be of any real use to me. It's not for lack of trying,  
though."  
  
"Megumi!"  
  
The girl's expression became a little more serious.  
"Actually, it's because I've got a weird cycle. Sometimes I  
just bleed for months on end if I don't take it."  
  
Akane made a disgusted face. "Bleh!!!"  
  
"I have a cousin who does the same thing," Megumi  
informed her. "The doctors all say that it's not really an  
uncommon problem."  
  
"I've never heard of it before."  
  
Megumi shrugged. "Say, does Ranma have a period?"  
  
Both she and Akane stopped dead in their tracks, staring  
at each other.  
  
"I... I've never asked." Akane admitted. "I honestly  
don't know."  
  
"Hmmm..." Megumi pursed her lips in thought. "He would be  
*very* upset if we asked."  
  
"Yes," Akane agreed. "Yes he would."  
  
The two girls resumed their pace, both trying to imagine  
Ranma's reaction to the question. Megumi shook her head at the  
thought while Akane just shuddered.  
  
They continued that way in silence for a few blocks.  
Finally, with a curious look on her face, Akane turned to her  
friend. "Do the goddesses?"  
  
Megumi was taken aback, but kept up her pace. "Well, Urd  
and Skuld are definitely moody enough sometimes..." She shook  
her head a little bit. "I've never heard them complain,  
though."  
  
Akane nodded in agreement. "Menstruation of the gods does  
seem just a bit far-fetched, I guess."  
  
"My turn," Megumi stated. "Since we're playing twenty  
questions all of a sudden. Have you and Ranma done anything  
since the party? Hmmm..."  
  
Akane's blush muscles were getting a definite workout.  
"Not... as much as we did at the party. We've gotten pretty  
serious, but not *that* serious."  
  
"I see. Now, has Ranma--"  
  
"I thought it was my turn!" Akane complained.  
  
"Just answer the question. Now, has Ranma ever been a  
girl when the two of you--"  
  
"MEGUMI!!!!" Akane shouted. In mock anger she chased her  
friend all the way to their destination.  
  
A few minutes of running brought them to Yang's Chinese,  
a medium-sized restaurant fairly near Ranma's apartment. They  
stopped in front of the enameled glass doorway to catch their  
breaths.  
  
"I can't... *huff*... believe you said that!" Akane  
complained. "How... *huff* could you?!"  
  
Megumi stood, bent over with her hands on her knees. "You  
never answered my question!"  
  
Akane just snarled and took a mock swipe at her friend.  
  
After the two had caught their breaths, they stepped  
inside the restaurant. They were greeted by a short, red haired  
waitress with a pigtail. She wore a pink and white dress and  
pink pumps.  
  
"Welcome to Yang's!" she chirped in a fake Chinese  
accent. "We have excellent dim-sum today, and special on won-  
ton. Only three hundred yen for dozen!"  
  
"Lay off, Loverboy," Megumi chided.  
  
"Unless of course you just feel like acting for us,  
Ranma," Akane teased.  
  
Ranma grimaced and jerked her thumb towards the serving  
window near the back of the restaurant. "Ahh, Old Man Yang's  
just got a bug up his ass. If he don't hear the spiel every  
time the doorbell rings, he goes ballistic. Booth okay?"  
  
Both Megumi and Akane nodded and the martial artist-  
turned-waitress led the two real girls to a booth under the  
restaurant's front window.  
  
"I'll be right back," Ranma promised. The girl soon  
returned with three bowls of ramen expertly balanced on her  
finger tips.  
  
"Okay, spicy pork for Akane," Ranma set the bowl of ramen  
down in front of the girl, impossibly balancing the other two  
on one hand. "Veggie for Megumi, and Saotome's Seafood  
Specialty for me."  
  
"Of course Ranma gets to make *his* own," Megumi chanted  
mockingly.  
  
"You don't get a fish sausage, then." Ranma dropped one  
of the round sausages in her own bowl and held the other out  
grasped between a pair of chopsticks.  
  
"Ranma?" Akane asked as the redhead held the sausage  
teasingly over her own bowl.  
  
"Well, do you want it?"  
  
"Give it to me, Baka!"  
  
"Take it from me."  
  
Megumi recognized the challenge. Ranma would take *any*  
opportunity to train Akane of late.  
  
With a cool, confident smile, Akane snapped at the  
sausage with her own chopsticks.  
  
Ranma responded by snapping the sausage back. Almost  
instantly the two pairs of chopsticks buzzed over the table.  
Akane sat calmly, focusing all her attention on the sausage,  
while Ranma kept making mocking expressions at the girl. All  
the while, the sausage hovered between the two, being held in  
the air by the chopsticks which were moving far too fast to see  
clearly.  
  
"Oww!" Akane yipped at one point, not taking her eyes  
away from the scrimmage.  
  
Ranma chuckled quietly, renewing her attack.  
  
Megumi couldn't even see what had caused the girl to cry  
out. "What is it?" she asked.  
  
"This jerk pinched me!" she said, lunging with her entire  
body.  
  
Ranma dodged back, away from Akane's attack, while the  
girl grabbed the sausage out of mid air and popped it in her  
mouth. She smiled smugly.  
  
Megumi shook her head in wonder. She had *never* seen  
anyone as fast as Ranma *or* Akane.  
  
"Was that enough?" Akane asked in a teasing, petulant  
voice.  
  
Ranma placed her hands on her hips and nodded  
appreciatively. "Almost," she admitted. "You're faster than I  
was when I started."  
  
Akane did her best to keep the exultant expression off  
her face. Megumi could still see a proud blush rise to the  
girl's cheeks.  
  
Ranma gazed proudly at Akane, who was doing her best to  
keep from exploding.  
  
"All right, Akane!" Megumi congratulated.  
  
The mood was ruined when the rough voice of the chef  
sounded out from the kitchen. "Saotome! You got a customer!"  
  
"I'm off the clock, moron!" Ranma shouted back. "I have  
*got* to get a new job," she complained.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
It took her some time to adjust to the dim, filtered  
light of the restaurant through her sunglasses. Glancing  
around, she quickly located the booth where Akane and the  
pigtailed girl were sitting. One other was with them, the same  
girl that had been escorting Akane at the clinic. She was  
presumably a minor member of their plot to steal away her  
Ranma-sama, or else a lover of one of the two perverted girls.  
Probably, she assumed, the girl was both.  
  
A waitress, who rattled off a formula greeting and sales  
pitch escorted her to a secluded booth, almost on the other  
side of the crowded restaurant from her enemies. She ordered  
dessert and coffee, and settled down to watch.  
  
She could not hear what the girls were saying. She could  
see their lips move, but nothing more than a suggestion of  
their voices rose above the din of the restaurant. Their  
behavior, however, suggested a happy gathering. The three joked  
and cajoled. They were no doubt already deep in their plans to  
snare her Ranma-sama, and were prematurely lording their  
victory over her.  
  
"Sirens!" she cursed under her breath. "Harridans!  
Whores!"  
  
Then she saw the pigtailed girl nervously peck Akane on  
the cheek. It was an innocent gesture... but she knew it for  
what it was. It was obvious that the two girls were lovers.  
They were forever touching... forever letting their gazes  
linger over one another...  
  
It would not do to have her Ranma-sama ensnared by such  
wanton women. She would make a much better, much more demure  
wife for him. She would never betray his love with another  
woman.  
  
As the three finished their meal, so did she. She left a  
large bill lying on the table, not bothering to wait for the  
change. There were more important things.  
  
Of this, The Black Rose had no doubt. Where Akane Tendou  
and the pigtailed girl led, there she would find her Ranma-  
sama.  
  
  
* * *  
  
"In other news, the Japanese Meteorological Bureau has  
upgraded tropical depression 'Mikado' to Tropical Storm status.  
While the storm is not expected to come overland, all Honshu  
residents who live in low lying or easily flooded areas are  
being advised to--"  
  
*CLICK*  
  
Tatewaki Kunou had no time for such trivialities. He  
asked himself why he had bothered listening to the radio in the  
first place. The classical strains were interrupted almost  
continually with commentary and commercialism. This was no way  
to calm his mind.  
  
That was the crux of the situation, he surmised. He had  
been ill at ease ever since the pigtailed girl had disappeared.  
It was true that the fair Akane was still in residence at the  
Tendou Dojo, but Kunou just couldn't help himself from thinking  
about why the pigtailed girl *and* the heinous Ranma Saotome  
had gone missing.  
  
Had he taken the girl to some secret hideout to molest  
her in seclusion? Was he having his cruel way with her as Kunou  
sat powerless to stop such a crime?  
  
"Save me, Kunou-sempai!" the crying red-headed angel  
seemed to plead from just in front of his eyes.  
  
"AUGGHH! The injustice! I'll not bear it!"  
  
But what could he do? he asked himself. Not only was the  
lovely visage of the pigtailed girl gone from his sight, but  
the divine Akane made herself absent from his presence as well.  
  
Her dress and behavior had changed drastically since  
Saotome left Nerima ward. Worse, she was gone from the area all  
day, most days. When he or his loyal ninja tried to follow her,  
all she did was ride the train all day, and get off at the end  
of the day without giving neither hint nor clue to her original  
destination.  
  
He was at his wits' end.  
  
*RING*  
  
He calmed himself. It was not meet to display any  
weakness before others. "Moshi moshi. Tatewaki Kunou speaking,"  
he answered.  
  
The static hiss of cellular phone greeted him on the  
other end of the line.  
  
"Hello?" he asked once more.  
  
"Brother. I have found Ranma-sama."  
  
Kunou's heart skipped a beat. Where hideth Saotome, so  
lies imprisoned the pigtailed girl!  
  
"Where?" he demanded, scrabbling for something to write  
the address down on.  
  
Kodachi gave him the address tersely. Without even  
bothering to hang up the phone, Tatewaki Kunou grabbed his  
bokken and ran from his house. He didn't even notice the dark  
smear of clouds forming on the horizon.  
  
* * *  
  
"Do you think it will be a bad storm?" Akane asked,  
snuggling her back against Ranma.  
  
The pigtailed martial artist shook his head briefly and  
continued to kiss the back of her neck, just underneath Akane's  
hairline. He tightened his embrace around her slightly as she  
leaned toward the window they were both gazing out.  
  
The dark line on the horizon had grown noticeably since  
that afternoon, and large cumulonimbus clouds were starting to  
form, even in the coolness of the evening.  
  
"They said on the radio that it wasn't supposed to go  
inland," he responded.  
  
"Ummm... do that again..." Akane whispered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"When you breathed on my ne-- oh. That."  
  
Ranma smirked and buried his face in the short, thick  
hair. He inhaled deeply, savoring the fragrance, and exhaled  
slowly, sending the girl into shivers.  
  
"You did real good today," he said, complimenting her.  
"You're gettin' to the point where you can really start tryin'  
to master the Amiguriken."  
  
Akane did her best to keep from shivering again. Ranma's  
pronouncement thrilled her almost as much as his lips on her  
neck did. She had never felt so confident, or so alive as when  
she trained with him. It was there, in the athletics room on  
the ground floor of the building, or outside, in the courtyard  
when they sparred that Akane felt like Ranma really respected  
her. She found that she was almost addicted to that wonderful  
gaze he gave her whenever she mastered a new kata or blocked  
one of his blows.  
  
"I... got the shot today, Ranma." She said, allowing as  
much sensuality as she could into her voice for such a mundane  
subject.  
  
"The shot? The... That shot?!?!"  
  
"The one we were talking about."  
  
Ranma was left quite speechless. He had never quite  
regained the brazenness or the confidence of the night of the  
Halloween party. The night when Akane gave her virginity to  
him. He desperately wanted to make love to Akane again... but  
was unsure how to approach the situation. Whenever they  
approached that kind of heat together, something always seemed  
to come up.  
  
Even if nobody interrupted them, Akane always seemed to  
remember something that she needed to get home for, or  
something he needed to do the next morning. He suspected that  
she was as nervous about it as he was. He wanted to talk to her  
about it, but was afraid that he would end up pushing her away  
again if he rushed her.  
  
Finally, about two weeks ago, one of Megumi's close  
friends turned up pregnant with her boyfriend's baby. Neither  
Ranma nor Akane knew the girl very well, but Megumi spent quite  
a while helping her through the ordeal, and Ranma and Akane  
volunteered a weekend to helping the girl and her boyfriend  
move in together.  
  
Even though everyone put a fairly nice face on the whole  
situation, it was obvious that life was going to be fairly  
difficult for the two. Both were full time students, and  
neither really had much family to fall back on. They were going  
to be lucky, *very* lucky, if one or both didn't have to drop  
out of school to start working to support the baby.  
  
And it made Ranma and Akane stop and think. In quiet  
tones at the back of the university commons, they discussed  
what they had done at the party, and the risks they were  
starting to take. With Ranma's, and eventually Megumi's help,  
Akane decided to go to the school infirmary and start looking  
into a more reliable method of birth control.  
  
Just in case.  
  
Now, with the pronouncement that she had actually gone  
through with the shot, the question was out in the open. She  
had laid it on the table for Ranma to pick up.  
  
He started to tremble, slightly. He realized that Akane  
could probably feel his erection through his pants. She was  
trembling as well.  
  
Before anything could happen, she stood up abruptly.  
  
"What? Is something wrong?" Ranma asked.  
  
"No! No... It's just... everyone's going to leave for the  
trip tomorrow morning. You remember, right?"  
  
Ranma nodded, familiar, yet somehow sweet, disappointment  
setting in. In celebration of the upcoming wedding, Mother Ono  
had paid for both Kasumi and Tofu as well as Nabiki, Akane and  
both fathers to go to a resort hotel in Hawaii for a week.  
Akane declined politely, citing a nonexistent school project,  
but she *was* expected to help pack and see her family off to  
the airport.  
  
"If... If we do *anything* tonight, I'll probably end up  
missing them leaving... tomorrow morning... and father will be  
worried all week... and..."  
  
He stood, and silenced her with a kiss.  
  
"It's okay. You don't have to explain. I understand."  
  
Akane could see the disappointed acceptance in his eyes.  
It hurt... but it was something she might be able to fix.  
  
"While they're gone... I was thinking of locking up the  
house and the dojo and spending... the week... over here."  
  
Ranma's eyes brightened. He realized that he was probably  
blushing as deeply as Akane was now, but he didn't care. He  
carefully shifted his stance, hoping to keep his erection from  
showing.  
  
"I'd... I'd like that."  
  
"Do you think the dojo will be okay?" Akane asked,  
concern showing in her expression.  
  
"Oh yeah! Unless there's a typhoon or something!" he  
joked, pointing to the darkened horizon line. "It'll be fine,  
I'm sure!" He paused, clasping his hands. "So... You better  
leave pretty quick, huh?"  
  
"Well," Akane responded, a naughty gleam lighting up in  
her eyes. "I can stay... for a little while longer."  
  
* * *  
  
Kodachi and her brother watched.  
  
They waited in silence.  
  
They waited some more.  
  
Kunou started to expound upon Akane's beauty and Ranma's  
crimes in heroic couplets.  
  
Kodachi smacked him one and told him he had damn well  
better shut up.  
  
The two waited further in silence.  
  
Finally, Akane Tendou came out the front of the building.  
  
"See!" Kodachi hissed from her vantage inside the dense  
shrubbery near the courtyard..  
  
"My goddess!" Tatewaki proclaimed. "I must go to her!"  
  
"No! You will do no such thing!" his sister admonished.  
"To do so will only let her know that we are aware of her  
little scheme."  
  
"But she is so near, and must surely know where the  
pigtailed-gir--OOF!"  
  
Kodachi whapped her brother sharply across the face.  
"Silence! You will never see either of them again if you act in  
haste, Brother. They will run from you like panicked deer."  
  
"Will you keep me from saving my darlings from that  
madman!?!?"  
  
"Look, she's leaving. Let us follow... *discreetly*."  
  
As Akane made her way from the apartment building, across  
the street, and toward the university campus, Kodachi leapt up  
on top of a nearby convenience store and peered down at her  
from the roof.  
  
Climbing a pile of crates, and heaving himself bodily  
onto the roof of the store, Kunou joined his sister.  
  
"I don't understand," he complained.  
  
"You never do! Watch," she said, pointing at the rapidly  
receding Akane. "It never works to follow her, because as soon  
as she sees you on the train, she just sits there like a frog  
on a log."  
  
Kodachi was rather pleased with her allusion. Akane *did*  
look rather amphibian. "Midorigame, however, will wait for the  
frogs to jump into the water before he strikes. By letting  
Akane pass without incident, and following her at a great  
distance, we will know the path she will take the next day."  
  
After almost a minute, comprehension slowly dawned across  
Kunou's face. "If we could find which stop she gets off at..."  
  
"You could meet her there tomorrow morning! You could  
easily delay her there, giving me time to figure out which of  
those rooms houses my darling Ranma-sama."  
  
"Oh, Akane Tendou! How I have longed to be re--"  
  
"Quiet!" Kodachi hissed, whacking her brother with a  
club. "Save your rantings for tomorrow morning, my foolish  
brother."  
  
* * *  
  
Message-ID: 000d01be3487$9ce78340$63a910cf@jws.utokyo.ed.jp  
From: "CPO E. McAtee" emctee2@minnesota.navy.mil  
To: roto@jws.utokyo.ed.jp  
Subject: Re: Depression 117  
X-Mailer: RIFLE v1.1.7  
  
possible, check out Depression #117 with American radar as  
noted on the attached maps, if at all Possible. I need to  
  
Roshi,  
  
I took a look at the maps you gave me and pulled a few  
strings with the NWB in Oahu. A bud of mine at NWB agrees  
with your assessment. Tropical Storm 'Mikado' almost  
certainly will move out to sea and shift north again  
before hitting the Japanese mainland. I don't think you  
need to start looking for typhoons.  
  
As a matter of a fact, he said that there is less than  
1 chance in 100 that the depress  
typhoon.  
  
Does this match your assessment?  
  
Ern...  
  
---  
  
Cheif Petty Officer Ernest McAtee - USS Minnesota  
  
* * *  
  
  
Although it was getting kind of grey outside due to the  
gathering clouds, for Akane the day dawned bright and early.  
With more than a little bit of excitement, she rose and ran to  
the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, and ran her hands through  
her short hair.  
  
It only took her a few minutes to get dressed and ready  
for her day.  
  
Nabiki, on the other hand, did rather badly most  
mornings.  
  
"Wake up, Sleepy-head!" Akane demanded, poking her head  
into her sister's room.  
  
Nabiki groaned once, and rolled over, pulling herself in  
tighter under her down comforter.  
  
A few minutes later, Akane returned, and forcibly pulled  
the comforter off her sister. "Get out of bed, Lazy-bones!" she  
teased. "You need to start packing!"  
  
"Nnn..." Nabiki grumbled. "Someone is just too damn  
cheerful this morning," she complained, blinking her eyes  
against the harsh morning light.  
  
"You don't want to miss your flight, do you?" Akane  
asked, as she pulled open her sister's closet and began to  
rummage through it.  
  
"Flight's not till noon, Akane," Nabiki snapped, gingerly  
letting her feet touch the floor.  
  
"You know how father is," her sister countered seriously,  
selecting a sun dress from the closet and laying on the bed  
next to Nabiki. "The closer it gets to ten, the more worried  
he'll get that the plane is leaving early without him."  
  
"Don't remind me."  
  
Akane pulled a pantsuit from the closet and laid it on  
top of the sun dress. She pulled out a black skirt, but tucked  
it under one arm.  
  
"And this one is mine, Nabiki!" she playfully teased.  
  
"You know," Nabiki noticed. "For as cheerful as you're  
acting, someone would think *you* had a trip planned this  
week."  
  
Akane said nothing, merely selecting another short dress  
for her sister.  
  
"You do, don't you? You and Ranma, right? You little--"  
  
"Akane!" Kasumi's pleasant call came from downstairs.  
"Some of your friends are here!"  
  
"I'll be right there," Akane said, turning her back on  
her sister.  
  
"Wait, Akane! You didn't answer me!!!" Nabiki commanded,  
jumping up and running after the shorter girl.  
  
Waiting in the foyer downstairs, Megumi, Belldandy and  
Skuld stood patiently, or impatiently and scanning a nervous  
panda, in Skuld's case.  
  
"We've come to help everybody off," Megumi explained.  
  
"Growf?"  
  
"Kasumi-chan," Belldandy greeted her host. "I'll cook  
breakfast for your family this morning so you can pack for your  
trip."  
  
"Why, thank-you Belldandy-chan!" Kasumi exclaimed,  
lightly embracing the other girl. "That's so generous of you!"  
  
Soun looked up from his paper and goggled at the two  
girls. He looked back and forth suspiciously between the two  
for several minutes.  
  
"C'mon, Akane!" Nabiki demanded. "I *know* something's...  
What!?!?" she asked, looking down at the young raven-haired  
girl scanning her with a device that looked like it came  
straight out of 'Star Trek'.  
  
"Hmmm... no residual morphogenic signature," Skuld mused.  
"Still, there's only one way to be sure."  
  
She produced a glass of water and threw it into Nabiki's  
unbelieving face.  
  
"AAAAAA!!!! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!?!" Nabiki screamed aloud.  
  
"Now I think that should be perfectly obvious," Skuld  
answered.  
  
"C'mon," Akane gestured to Megumi. "Nabiki's not quite  
packed yet. Let's go help her while she changes."  
  
Sputtering, wet, and furious about being splashed, Nabiki  
altogether lost her train of thought that led to Ranma and  
Akane's plans.  
  
  
* * *  
  
Wearing his best clothes, i.e. his Chinese army uniform,  
Ranma sat on the brickwork just by the fountain in front of  
'Yang's' where he was supposed to meet Akane for the day.  
  
Looking across the square, he glanced one more time at  
the 'Lacy Doll' just across the street, before checking that,  
yes, the wrapped package he held in his lap bore the same name  
and logo. He was having a difficult time accepting what he had  
just done.  
  
He honestly thought that there would have been a chorus  
of 'Hentai' and 'Lecher' as he purchased the garment.  
  
"I... I like this one," he had said, pointing to the lace  
garment.  
  
The saleslady gave him a naughty grin, but said nothing.  
  
"I really don't know what size to get," he admitted. He  
knew what size he would need if it were for him, he struggled  
not to say.  
  
"Do you know her measurements?" the saleslady asked,  
pursing her lips as she spoke.  
  
Ranma bit his lip nervously, and pulled the little slip  
of paper out of his pocket, the little slip that contained the  
three little numbers that were already burned indelibly into  
his mind.  
  
The saleslady rifled through the rack, until she came  
away with one of the long-sleeved body-suits.  
  
Ranma gulped nervously, seeing for the first time all the  
way through the belly and back of the garment. There were  
strategically placed clusters of denser lace around the cups  
and at the bottom, near the snaps that held the thing together.  
  
Ranma had no illusions about how much they would actually  
cover in practice.  
  
"Do you think she'd like stockings to go with it?" the  
saleslady asked, gesturing demurely to a featureless mannequin  
that was wearing nothing but thigh-high black lace.  
  
Ranma let his teeth to dig into his bottom lip, drawing a  
slight amount of blood.  
  
"Yes... I think she would, thank-you." He answered.  
  
So now Ranma sat, almost an hour early for the meeting,  
desperately trying to think of how to present this, the most  
intimate of gifts, to the woman he loved. If he was lucky,  
Ranma thought, then he wouldn't get pounded for being so  
provocative.  
  
"I've gotta quit thinking like that!" he hissed aloud.  
Akane had promised not to hit him any more. If he *was* going  
too far, then she would tell him, and he would... apologize,  
and all would be fine.  
  
He hoped.  
  
Ranma sighed, glancing at the clock in the middle of the  
square. "Eleven thirty... *sigh*"  
  
* * *  
  
"Shin, look at this..."  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
The air traffic controller handed his supervisor a  
weather map.  
  
"What do you think?" the controller asked.  
  
Shin 'tsked' as he examined the report.  
  
He bit his lip and shook his head.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Have the ground crews prepare to change the active  
runway," Shin advised. "Also, warn all pilots about possible  
wind shear conditions."  
  
"I'll do it, boss," the controller answered.  
  
Shin bit his lip again. There was always a little more  
chance of an 'incident' when weather was changing like this.  
Such a sudden shift in the air currents was a bad omen.  
  
  
* * *  
  
Elsewhere in the airport, a stewardess fretted over a  
problem customer.  
  
"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Soun bellowed as he was being bodily  
dragged along the boarding ramp by the stewardess and his best  
friend. "My little girl will be all alone!!!!"  
  
"She's got her friends, Tendou," Genma noted, gesturing  
to the waving Akane and the three girls who had accompanied  
them to the airport. "I'm certain she'll be okay."  
  
"But she'll be all by herself!!!" Soun lamented.  
  
"Akane's a big girl, Father," Kasumi comforted him.  
"Right, Tofu-sensei?"  
  
"Uhh... Heh... yes, of course Kasumi. I hope they serve  
the honey roasted peanuts as well!"  
  
"So..." Genma whispered in his friend's ear, just as the  
walls of the ramp blocked out view of the pre-boarding lounge.  
"Which one do you think is Akane's..." he let the question  
hang, relying on its suggestive nature to drill it in.  
  
Suddenly serious, but still being pulled up the ramp,  
Soun rubbed his slightly stubbled chin. "Hmm... Nabiki dear,"  
he asked, pulling out his wallet. "Which one did you say you  
saw Akane with?"  
  
Nabiki's eyes lit up at the sight of her father's wallet,  
and was about to respond, until she caught Kasumi's firm  
expression.  
  
"I'm not sure, Daddy. I really couldn't say," she  
answered darkly.  
  
"Give me your wallet, Saotome," Soun commanded.  
  
"But--" the larger man protested.  
  
"I mean, Father," Nabiki corrected, "I *really* don't  
know who she is. It was dark... okay?"  
  
Soun grimaced, but accepted his daughter's story at face  
value.  
  
"It's the one with the facial tattoos," Genma whispered.  
  
"Hmmm... The younger one, or the older one?" His friend  
mulled.  
  
"Older... the younger one's *too* young..." Genma  
supposed.  
  
"You're probably right..." Soun admitted.  
  
Genma shook his head and took the opportunity to push his  
glasses up just before they boarded the jet. "You remember what  
the master always says about women with tattoos..."  
  
* * *  
  
Twelve fifteen.  
  
Ranma glanced nervously at the clouds that were building  
overhead. In the back of his mind, he was thinking that they  
were probably a result of the tropical storm. Up front however,  
he was trying to visualize a situation in which he gave the  
lingerie to Akane as a girl and didn't cause a fight.  
  
"I can't think like that!" he chided himself. It wasn't  
like he and Akane hadn't even experimented with...  
  
Ranma took a moment to calm himself, flashes of pink  
flesh and the red vinyl of their Halloween costumes roaring  
through his mind.  
  
Telling himself he was passing the time, Ranma started to  
pick out 'hiding' places around the square where he could stay  
dry. As the clouds above began to grow darker, he gave brief  
thought to hiding inside Yang's if it started to look like it  
was going to drizzle.  
  
Akane might not think to look in there, he reasoned.  
Perhaps it would be good to try to find someplace in sight, but  
out of the rain. Possibly, he could take shelter under the  
narrow awning of the video store across the street. Would Akane  
see him there when she came to meet him?  
  
Ranma shifted nervously on his brick perch.  
  
The first drop of rain fell on his cheek.  
  
* * *  
  
"Hiroshi!"  
  
"Hmm?" The weatherman sipped at his coffee before turning  
around. "What is it, boss?"  
  
"It look's like 'Mikado' is turning late," the weather  
bureau chief for the University of Tokyo stated, holding out  
several pages of printouts. "It's also starting to rain over in  
Nerima district."  
  
"Wha--" Hiroshi took another long gulp of coffee as he  
studied the satellite maps. "Shit!" he yelled angrily, slamming  
the cup down on his desk.  
  
"What?!?!"  
  
"I burned my mouth!"  
  
"Oh..."  
  
Hiroshi shook his head over the printouts. "Still, this  
isn't good. It was supposed to have turned North by now. It's  
getting too damn big."  
  
"You're not saying..."  
  
Hiroshi shrugged. "*If* it does hit, it'll be a class 1  
or 2 until it peters out. That could take any where from twelve  
hours to five days."  
  
The boss sighed at length. "Do we issue a warning,  
Hiroshi?"  
  
"Well, that would mean calling the TV networks and  
everything and..."  
  
"'Yes' or 'No' answer, Hiroshi," his boss cut him off.  
  
Hiroshi thought carefully for several seconds.  
  
"Yes," he said finally and formally. "I'm estimating that  
there's a fifty percent chance that it will actually come  
overland at this time.  
  
"Those are bad enough odds for me," the chief replied.  
  
"Okay," Hiroshi acknowledged, "But you gotta call the  
networks!"  
  
* * *  
  
From the train station near the airport, there was only  
one connection to board the train that would take the girls to  
the station nearest Ranma's apartment and the university.  
Conversation between the four was light, until they started to  
notice the rapidly darkening sky overhead.  
  
"That just looks nasty," Megumi noted.  
  
The other girls nodded in agreement.  
  
"I wonder if Ranma's noticed this yet," Akane wondered,  
vaguely concerned for the martial artist.  
  
Skuld was doing quite a bit of work on a portable  
computer, Akane noticed, and occasionally aiming a sensor  
through the train window at the sky.  
  
"What's the forecast, Skuld-chan?" Belldandy asked.  
  
"Not good. The television networks are only now starting  
to issue weather warnings. They all thought that the typhoon  
was supposed to move back out to sea. Morons!"  
  
"Now, now, Skuld," Belldandy chided her sister. "Human  
meteorologists don't have quite the technology available to  
them that they really need for accurate predictions yet. Give  
them a little while, and they'll get better."  
  
Skuld nodded irritatedly. Akane and Megumi both had to  
work to keep from giggling at the girl's ire.  
  
The train slowed and pulled into a short tunnel that led  
into the train station itself. The girls gathered their  
belongings. For Akane, this was a full overnight bag. She was a  
little bit embarrassed about it, but the other girls hadn't  
said anything about the bag yet, even if she was fairly certain  
that both Megumi and Belldandy knew what it was for.  
  
The four girls hurried through the hallways of the  
station which were almost deserted due to the growing storm.  
They were almost out to the door when a dark figure leapt out  
in front of them from a darkened alcove.  
  
Megumi shrieked as she was startled but Akane dropped her  
bag and fell into one of the strong defensive stances that  
Ranma had taught her.  
  
The filthy figure raised his face and produced a bokken,  
which he leveled at Akane.  
  
Akane and the other girls made noises of disgust at his  
appearance and odor.  
  
It was Kunou, and he looked like hell. His clothes were  
rumpled and wrinkled and even from a distance, all four girls  
could tell that he was in severe need of a bath. His hair was  
mussed beyond recognition and there was a large grimy, sticky  
spot on his hakama where someone had spilled a soda on him  
several hours earlier. An old ice-cream wrapper was stuck to  
one of his sandals and one leg of the hakama had ripped almost  
to the knee.  
  
Worse, Kunou's face revealed his lack of sleep. He looked  
weary and tired, as if he had been up all night, but there was  
a fanatic burning in his eyes. Kunou's body looked tired, but  
his weariness and exhaustion cast a frightening, zealous glow.  
With a motion that was almost too quick for the humans in the  
group to follow, Kunou slashed his bokken back and forth once  
and held it at the ready position.  
  
Akane started, partly in shock, and a little in fear. She  
had to remind herself that even before Ranma's extensive  
training that she was usually more than a match for the Blue  
Thunder.  
  
"Kunou-sempai!" she stated nervously. "Did you spend all  
night here at the station?"  
  
"SILENCE!!!!" Kunou bellowed. His voice was unstable.  
"Know this, Akane Tendou! Now that I have at last followed your  
path to its conclusion, your days of servitude to the foul  
demon Saotome are over!"  
  
"Demon?" Skuld whispered. "Did he say demon?"  
  
"I'm sure he meant it metaphorically, Skuld-chan,"  
Belldandy explained.  
  
"Nay!" Kunou shouted back, overhearing the private  
exchange. "For there is none baser nor fouler than the dread  
Ranma Saotome. Verily doth he thwart my every plan to free both  
Akane and the lovely Pigtailed Girl from his dire clutches!  
This effrontery has persisted for far too long. Now fight me,  
Akane Tendou. Should you win, I would allow you to date me!  
Should I win, I will gladly grace you with my presence."  
  
"Maybe you should go home and take a bath, Kunou," Akane  
suggested. "I'm certain the we can talk about this later."  
  
"The time for words is long past," Kunou ranted  
eloquently. "Now defend yourself, Akane, so that my tender  
mercies may discipline you away from the foul sorcerer."  
  
"Damn!" Akane hissed. "He's serious!"  
  
"He's seriously bent," Megumi commented.  
  
"I'm going to have to fight him," Akane responded,  
kicking off her shoes. "Try to get around him while I distract  
him."  
  
"Akane-san," Belldandy asked in concern. "Are you going  
to be okay?'  
  
Akane nodded. "I used to trash Kunou all the time before  
I started going out with Ranma. Seriously, this shouldn't be  
any big deal."  
  
It *was* a big deal, Akane found out as Kunou lunged at  
her. Ranma's training had driven into her a need and the  
ability to read her opponents, so as Akane dodged out of the  
way and attempted to drive a foot into Kunou's mid-section, she  
could tell that he was far, far beyond feeling any pain. He  
lashed out again, doing his best to knock Akane down, rather  
than hit or cut her.  
  
When Kunou shrugged off one of her best uppercuts, Akane  
began to tremble slightly.  
  
Megumi, Belldandy, and Skuld attempted to dodge past the  
enraged kendoist, but Kunou blocked their way with a bokken  
strike. Megumi skidded to a halt and nearly fell over backwards  
to keep from being hit.  
  
"Nay, fair ones! Do not flee the wrath of Tatewaki Kunou,  
for you shall bear witness to Akane's defeat at my hands so  
that no one may doubt to whom she truly belongs!"  
  
"I don't belong to *anybody*, Kunou!" Akane yelled out,  
striking Kunou in the face with the heel of her palm. He took  
the blow and bounced back, apparently never feeling it. "Fight  
me, Kunou!" Akane demanded. "And leave my friends alone!"  
  
"So be it, my tiger-hearted goddess. Now feel the fury of  
Blue Thunder. YAAH!" he screamed as he began madly slashing at  
Akane.  
  
Akane dodged what blows she could. Not nearly as many as  
Ranma, but more than she had ever been able to before. The  
bokken strikes she couldn't dodge, she turned aside with quick,  
glancing blows of her fists. The occasional slash that did get  
through hurt Akane, though. One landed on her shoulder, and the  
other on her ribs. She was certain that both would bruise  
horribly.  
  
"STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE  
STRIKE..."  
  
Kunou was fighting insanely, Akane noticed. His strikes  
and blows followed no real pattern, and he was leaving himself  
almost completely open to attack while he fought.  
  
There was no help for it, Akane knew. Wanting to end the  
fight quickly, she took another glancing blow to the ribs, and  
dove forward towards Kunou's relatively undefended body. She  
drove her right knee into his gut and brought it up into his  
chin before he could react.  
  
Kunou spit blood and fell backwards.  
  
"Run!" Akane yelled at her friends.  
  
Nodding, Megumi grabbed Skuld's arm and led her past the  
stunned kendoist and out the door of the train station.  
Belldandy followed close behind. Akane took a few steps away  
from her attacker and stood just outside the doorway.  
  
"I... yield... not..." Kunou grunted, and struggled to  
his feet. A line of blood ran down his chin and onto his chest.  
He slashed back and forth again, as if he was cutting at the  
weariness that plagued him, and stumbled out the door after  
them.  
  
Akane narrowed her eyes. "Let's stop this now, Kunou.  
You're tired and dirty. I promise that if you go home, we can  
talk about this some other time."  
  
"Will talk heal my broken heart, Akane Tendou?" Kunou  
demanded angrily. "Nay, for only the possession of what is  
rightfully mine will soothe my savage breast."  
  
Akane shook her head. He beyond reason. She hoped that  
she wasn't going to have to injure him. "I'm not your  
'possession', Kunou," she snapped back. "I never was, no matter  
how often you imagined it. Now are you going to go home?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Fine." Akane lunged.  
  
Megumi gasped and Belldandy's hand went to her mouth in  
surprise. Akane had darted in to strike at the kendoist at a  
speed that defied description. She struck with both fists at  
once, hammering Kunou in the face and chest. Her blows were so  
rapid that he couldn't even raise his bokken to defend himself  
against them. They sought out all his vulnerable points and  
pounded them dozens of times over.  
  
Before he could react, Akane jumped back out of range and  
tried to catch her breath.  
  
She hadn't *quite* managed a true Kachuu Tenshin  
Amiguriken speed attack, but she was close enough.  
  
Kunou staggered, his bokken clattering to the sidewalk.  
  
"I.... *haff* yield..... not...."  
  
"He's not dead yet?" Skuld asked incredulously.  
  
"You know, Sempai?" Akane huffed in anger and  
frustration. "The thing I really *hate* about you is that you  
just won't go *DOWN*! KUNOU NO BAKA!!!!"  
  
She ran in and drop-kicked the kendoist.  
  
Kunou was unconscious by the time he landed.  
  
"Come on!" Akane commanded as a light drizzle began to  
dampen the four girls, trying to put the fight behind her. "We  
need to find Ranma before it really starts to rain."  
  
Skuld shook her head. "If there's a typhoon coming in,  
then we need to get back to the temple and board up the  
windows."  
  
"I'm certain that Keiichi-san is already working on it,"  
Belldandy noted trustingly.  
  
Akane nodded. "I should do the same for the dojo. I'll  
find Ranma and we'll go board it up together."  
  
"I'll help board up the temple," Megumi offered. "And  
once we're done, I'll help you and Ranma, too!"  
  
Akane nodded, and the four girls took off in two  
directions.  
  
* * *   
  
"Damnit..." Ranma muttered as she ran through the rain  
that was now pouring through the town. She held the bag of  
lingerie under her bowed head to keep the water from getting  
into the bag and soaking through the paper wrapping.  
  
There wasn't any help for it. She might have even waited  
in the rain for Akane, had she not had the gift with her. As it  
was, she didn't want Akane's present to get ruined. She wasn't  
certain if rainwater would harm the delicate fabric, but was  
unwilling to take the chance. She also didn't want to present  
Akane with a soggy gift.  
  
Ranma grumbled, but soon approached her apartment  
building. She ran in the front door, taking time to shake the  
rain out of her hair. In the elevator, she took the paper  
wrapped package out of the bag to ensure that it had not gotten  
wet at all. She breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out of  
the elevator at the her floor.  
  
She walked into her room and tossed the package on the  
futon. Leaving the door unlocked in case Akane showed up, she  
stepped into the bathroom she shared with Megumi to shower off  
and change back.  
  
A few seconds after the water began to run in the  
bathroom the front door opened, ever so slightly.  
  
Almost half a minute passed. The only sound in the room  
was the gentle hiss of running water behind a closed door.  
  
The door opened more fully and Kodachi Kunou stepped  
inside.  
  
She smiled broadly, biting her lip to keep from laughing  
in triumph. She had followed Ranma back from the square in  
front of the Chinese food restaurant where she had seen the  
pigtailed girl and Akane making their diabolical plans.  
  
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, she lost track of the  
pigtailed martial artist when it began to rain and concentrated  
on catching a glimpse of the green uniform her most beloved had  
been wearing. After only a few seconds, she came across the  
pigtailed girl wearing a uniform just like Ranma's.  
  
She wanted to be with Ranma, but this was too good an  
opportunity to dispose of one of her rivals to ignore. Besides,  
where Ranma went, the pigtailed girl usually followed. Chances  
were that wherever she wound up in following the wicked harlot  
would leave her in close proximity to Ranma.  
  
Kodachi carefully closed the door behind her and  
discarded her raincoat. Wearing a pretty dress, she stepped in  
and began to examine Ranma's prison. It was tiny and ugly,  
surely not befitting a proud warrior such as her beloved.  
Worse, in quite a few places there were pictures of that  
horrible little beast, Akane Tendou! They were left, no doubt,  
to remind Ranma of his captivity.  
  
Her eyes finally came to rest on Ranma's futon, and the  
package she had seen him with earlier.  
  
"Hmm..." she wondered quietly. It could be nothing, she  
supposed, but it might be a present for *her*! Akane or the  
pigtailed girl would no doubt confiscate and destroy the gift  
once they realized that Ranma had bought it, so she stepped  
over and opened it without a second thought.  
  
Kodachi reddened once she saw what was inside the  
package. "Oh, Ranma-sama, you daring, wicked man! Of course  
I'll accept your gift!"  
  
* * *  
  
Kunou came to a painful consciousness once the rain began  
to pound down on him and ran up his nose. He shook his head and  
pushed his wet hair out of his eyes and began to look around  
for Akane.  
  
He was a little ways away from the train station where  
Akane, like a shy schoolgirl, had run away from him. He  
grimaced in pain as he tried to stand, remembering how  
exuberantly forceful her running away had been.  
  
"I am quite impressed, Akane Tendou!" he declared out  
loud, using his bokken as a crutch. "But you shall be mine, no  
doubt!"  
  
Now if only he could remember where the foul sorcerer  
Saotome's apartment was...  
  
* * *  
  
Ranma stepped out of the shower and began to towel  
himself off. Happy and male, he used the towel to strip the  
water off his arms and legs. Dry, he wrapped another towel  
around his waist.  
  
He heard the door open while he was in the shower, so  
Akane must have made her way into his room when he wasn't at  
the meeting place. Ranma shook out his bath towel and hung it  
on a hook next to one of Megumi's and opened the door to his  
room, holding the other towel up with one hand..  
  
"Hey, Akane. I'm sorry I--"  
  
What lay on his futon was most definitely *not* Akane.  
  
"Ohhhh, Ranma-sama!"  
  
"Oh, hell..."  
  
Kodachi lay on his futon. Ranma's brain seemed to not  
want to recognize that fact. No matter how he looked at it,  
however, there was no mistaking the situation.  
  
Worse, Ranma thought in shock, she was clad in sheer  
lingerie and thigh high stockings. Her nipples and thick black  
delta were clearly visible through the transparent lace as she  
sensuously ran her hands down her torso and over her hips.  
Starting in anger and ripping his eyes away from her delicately  
exposed body, he saw the 'Lacy Doll' package torn open on the  
floor next to his futon.  
  
Ranma clenched his fists in fury. Kodachi had broken into  
his apartment and was wearing the bodysuit and stockings he had  
bought specially for Akane!  
  
"Kodachi..." he growled, his rage growing.  
  
"Oh, my darling Ranma," she breathed back. "What a  
wonderful man you are. How could you have known just what I  
wanted? Mmmmm..." she purred, lifting one stockinged leg into  
the air and running her hand along it, offering Ranma a naughty  
glimpse of what was only concealed by a thin wisp of sheer  
lace. She pulled her hand back and cupped her breasts through  
the lace embroidery, making appreciative moans and fixing Ranma  
with a seductive stare all the while.  
  
Ranma's face twisted in rage. He was so mad that he  
wanted to strike at the apparition in front of him. She... she  
was ruining everything! She had taken Akane's gift and...  
and... and...  
  
"Get out..." he growled again, his fists balling up and  
his shoulders hunching over in anger. He turned his head so  
that he didn't have to see his gift ruined. "Get out, NOW!"  
  
"You're so playful, Ranma-sama!" Kodachi exclaimed. She  
rolled forward and hopped onto her stocking feet. She took a  
step towards Ranma, her arms out to embrace him. "Come to me,  
my love," she pleaded.  
  
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!"  
  
"Don't refuse my love, Ranma-sama," Kodachi begged,  
throwing her arms around the angry martial-artist.  
  
"DAMNITT! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!"  
  
Ranma struggled to get away, but Kodachi was more intent  
on rubbing herself against Ranma's frame than avoiding being  
pushed or prodded. She wasn't about to let go.  
  
Then, to Ranma's horror, the door opened.  
  
* * *  
  
Lightning struck off in the distance, and the winds were  
picking up. Akane was thoroughly soaked, and not getting any  
dryer. It was a good thing her bag was watertight. She *really*  
wanted to get to a radio or television to hear the weather  
report. As it was, she was going to be satisfied getting to the  
safety of Ranma's apartment.  
  
After several minutes of running in the now-horizontal  
rain and winds that were threatening to knock her light body  
over, Akane finally made her way to the stark grey building.  
Maintenance workers were boarding over the glass front doors,  
so Akane darted into a service entrance on the side of the  
building and ran up the steel stairs.  
  
At the fifth floor, she opened the door into the main  
building and ran down to Ranma's room. She was keyed up from  
the violence of the storm outside and excited about seeing  
Ranma. She was fairly trembling with one kind of arousal or  
another.  
  
She stopped, and put her hand on the doorknob. It was  
unlocked, so Ranma must already be there, away from the rain.  
  
Smiling, she pushed the door open.  
  
Akane's smile fell. She gasped, dropping her bag. Her  
hands went to her face in terror.  
  
"No..." Akane breathed.  
  
Kodachi was there...  
  
She was... almost naked. Akane's jaw worked in disbelief  
and horror. She was wearing sheer lingerie and her body was  
draped over Ranma. Ranma, from what she could see, was mostly  
naked as well. He might have been wearing his boxers, but Akane  
couldn't tell since one of Kodachi's legs was wrapped around  
his waist.  
  
Ranma's... hands....  
  
Akane gulped, not wanting to believe what she was seeing.  
  
Ranma's hands were on Kodachi's body.  
  
"No... please... no..." Akane began to cry.  
  
"OHOHOHOHOHOHOH!" Kodachi laughed merrily. "But it is  
true, Akane! Ranma-sama is mine now!"  
  
"NO!!!" Akane screamed.  
  
"Oh God no, Akane, this isn't what it looks like!" Ranma  
declared.  
  
Her eyes wide and staring, Akane took two trembling steps  
back from the doorway. She turned and fled.  
  
"NO! AKANE!!!!"  
  
* * *  
  
"What are you doing, Daughter," Soun asked.  
  
"It's the latest thing, Daddy," Nabiki explained, holding  
up the flat screen she was holding. "You can get one of these  
from the stewardess and play videos or watch TV."  
  
She turned in her seat to afford her father a better view  
of the gadget. Behind her, Genma poked his head up over her  
headrest to gaze on it as well.  
  
"Quite an invention, eh, Tendou?" the bulky martial  
artist commented. "Why, when I was flying back from Hong Kong,  
the only real entertainment we had was a squawking chicken!"  
  
"I thought you said that was a JAL flight, and that they  
played a Pauley Shore movie, Saotome," Soun countered.  
  
"Like I said... a squawking chicken," Genma defended his  
answer.  
  
Nabiki grimaced, but continued her explanation. "You can  
get movies, cartoons, sports--"  
  
"See if there's a sumo basho on, Tendou," Genma  
suggested.  
  
"And Japanese and American news," Nabiki finished. "See?"  
  
"And in other news, typhoon 'Mikado' has crossed onto the  
Japanese mainland over the island of Honshu. While the storm is  
considered relatively light in severity, all Tokyo residents  
are being advised to take shelter and stay away from windows."  
  
Soun, Genma and Nabiki stared in shock at the tiny news  
broadcast.  
  
"As previously forecasted, the typhoon was expected to  
turn North and drift back out to sea. This unexpected turn of  
events is not expected to cause severe damage to Tokyo, but  
light to moderate damage is possible and expected."  
  
"MY LITTLE GIRL!!!!" Soun began to wail.  
  
"Calm down, Daddy!" Nabiki hissed. "It's only a bad  
storm."  
  
"We have to turn the plane around right now!" Soun  
pleaded. "We have to go back now!"  
  
Genma grunted in displeasure and concern.  
  
"What's wrong, Father?" Kasumi asked from across the  
aisle, where she and Dr. Tofu were sitting. Carefully checking  
the 'fasten seat belts' sign, Kasumi undid hers so that she  
could see what had upset her father so.  
  
"We have to go back to save Akane!" Soun wailed  
hysterically.  
  
Kasumi examined the news broadcast on the tiny screen.  
"Oh, it's too late, now, Father. They've closed the airport.  
The best we can do is make sure Akane is okay once we get to  
the hotel. The storm has already started."  
  
* * *  
  
The horrible image of Kodachi and Ranma together was  
burned into Akane's eyes as she ran aimlessly down the hallway.  
  
"AKANE! NO!!!!" A voice called out behind her.  
  
Paying no heed to the voice, Akane careened into a  
concrete support column near the side of the hallway since her  
eyes were bleary with tears. She was knocked on her ass, but  
felt no pain, since the pain in her heart was already  
overwhelming. She staggered to her feet and continued her  
flight, more running from the image in her mind of Ranma's  
hands all over Kodachi's near-naked body.  
  
*His hands roamed up and down her lace clad torso with  
wild abandon as Kodachi began to obscenely lick his neck. All  
Akane could do was stand nearby and watch helplessly.*  
  
Akane's world was shattered. Every last foundation came  
crashing down on her. Not really caring that she bruised her  
arm running into the elevator, she punched several of the  
buttons and collapsed in the corner to cry.  
  
Ranma, having finally worked himself free of Kodachi's  
embrace, tumbled out into the hall just in time to see the  
elevator doors close on the dark-haired girl.  
  
He stood and straightened his towel.  
  
Kodachi knelt in his doorway, still clad in only the  
lingerie that he had bought for Akane.  
  
If looks could kill, Kodachi would have been vaporized on  
the spot. As it was, she misinterpreted his burning glare as  
intent.  
  
"Oh, take me now, Ranma-sama! Now that that annoying  
little alley-cat is out of the way, we can be together with no  
interruptions!"  
  
Ranma's lip curled in unholy rage. He felt the feelings  
building again like they had so many months ago when he first  
abandoned the Tendou Dojo. It had been a mistake, he realized  
darkly, to stop being so careful about guarding his location  
from all his old... acquaintances.  
  
His entire body trembling in almost uncontrolled fury,  
Ranma raised one open palm.  
  
"Oooh! Do you want to play those kinds of games, Ranma-  
sama?" Kodachi asked, rising to her knees and stretching her  
arms behind her back to provide her love with the best view of  
her barely concealed assets. "Punish me, Ranma-sama! Punish me  
until I displease you no more! Show me the measure of your love  
by your discipline. Love me harshly, Ranma-sama!"  
  
Ranma blinked. He couldn't do it. His hand fell  
uselessly, impotently to his side. He couldn't bring himself to  
hit her unprovoked like this. The sexual manner in which she  
begged disgusted him. How could she be so--  
  
"That little Tendou whore will never know your love, will  
she, Darling?" Kodachi asked, running one hand down her side  
and over her hip.  
  
Ranma dropped her with a single blow to the temple. The  
girl collapsed in an unconscious heap at his feet. Much to his  
relief, Kodachi twisted as she fell so that her assets were  
mostly hidden underneath her.  
  
"That's for calling Akane a whore," Ranma declared. "And  
this," he stated as he trod roughly on her back as he walked  
back inside the apartment, "is for stealing her present. Rot in  
hell, Nutcase."  
  
Ranma quickly located and donned his clothes and ran back  
out into the hallway. If only he could get Akane to understand  
what had happened...  
  
By the time he reached the elevator, the floor indicator  
read 'PG', which led Ranma to believe that Akane had made her  
way down to the basement parking garage underneath the complex.  
Ranma ran in and hit the button.  
  
* * *  
  
Akane ran out of the front of the building and into the  
storm. It had gotten much worse since she first went inside.  
Even the maintenance workers were gone, no doubt safe in some  
sheltered area. The rain poured down in blinding sheets and she  
staggered against the wind, desperately trying her best to keep  
her tiny body upright.  
  
"Oh God, why?" she wailed out loud, her voice lost in the  
howling wind.  
  
She staggered almost a half block away from the apartment  
building, fighting the wind and rain every step of the way when  
a dark shape loomed up out of the rain.  
  
"No..." Akane hissed.  
  
"Akane Tendou!" Tatewaki Kunou shouted over howl of the  
rain and wind. "Now you will be mine. Submit yourself to me!"  
  
Akane lurched back, horrified. Kunou's wet hair whipped  
all around him in a terrifying nimbus. His bruised body stood  
upright, unmoved by the elements. His eyes were totally devoid  
of anything even close to reason.  
  
Worse, he had abandoned his wooden bokken in favor of a  
steel katana. Akane gulped upon seeing the razor edge of the  
sword.  
  
"Now, Akane Tendou!" Kunou cried out, striking with his  
blade.  
  
Akane dodged, barely avoiding the cutting edge. She cried  
out in horror.  
  
"Take this!" Kunou bellowed. "And this! And this! Let my  
blazing sword be the light of my love for you!"  
  
He backed her up against an alley wall in almost no time.  
  
"Now, Akane Tendou, I will take back from Saotome what is  
rightfully mine!" he cried, reaching for her blouse.  
  
Akane ducked and rolled under his arm, barely avoiding  
having her blouse ripped away. Kunou lashed out, catching Akane  
on the ribs with the back of his sword as she rolled past.  
Akane cried out at the painful blow, but staggered to her feet  
and ran weakly back to the apartment, the wind blowing her  
along and causing her to stumble. She had never felt so weak or  
so powerless.  
  
  
* * *  
  
Ranma grimaced and growled in anger. Akane wasn't in the  
parking garage, and when he returned to his own floor, Kodachi  
was already missing from his apartment. Realizing that Akane  
must have left the building, Ranma reentered the elevator and  
went down to the ground floor. He was just about to open one of  
the boarded over doors and start to search outside, when the  
door flew open and Akane darted inside.  
  
"Akane!"  
  
She was terrified, her eyes opened wide with panic and  
pain. She was breathing in great, heaving gasps and clutching  
her side just below her breast. Ranma didn't see any blood, but  
from he way the girl was moving, it looked like she had been  
badly bruised.  
  
"Get away from my Ranma-sama, you little hussy!"  
Kodachi's voice declared from above.  
  
"What the--?" Ranma and Akane both looked up.  
  
Still wearing the sheer lingerie, Kodachi burst out of  
the ceiling tile, gymnastics clubs at the ready.  
  
"In the ceiling?" Ranma wondered out loud, stunned.  
  
Akane noticed a dark lump on Kodachi's forehead. Had  
somebody hit her?  
  
At almost the same time Kodachi hit the floor, the doors  
burst in, the howling wind blowing rain and broken glass into  
the lobby of the building. Kunou stood in the open doorway, his  
body soaked, his wet hair streaming around his head and his  
mouth almost frothing.  
  
"Wonderful," Ranma hissed, dropping into a defensive  
stance. "Blue blunder has gone bye-bye. Stay sharp, Akane!"  
Ranma shouted as he faced Kunou.  
  
Kunou lunged in, trying to seek out Ranma's blood with  
his katana.  
  
Kodachi, her eyes narrowed in anger, lashed out at Akane  
with one of her clubs. Still confused, Akane dodged to one side  
and chopped Kodachi's wrist, sending the club flying.  
  
"You horrid little girl," Kodachi hissed, drawing out a  
ribbon. "Why didn't you just stay away?"  
  
Akane didn't dignify the girl's barb with a response. It  
was funny, she thought to herself as she dropped into a  
defensive stance similar to Ranma's. It seemed like all her  
strength was returning as she fought back to back with Ranma.  
The image of Ranma and Kodachi pawing each other was still  
burned into her mind, but it seemed abstract somehow, as if she  
had imagined it. She was cold, wet, and scared, but she didn't  
want to be anywhere else than where she was.  
  
Kodachi sent her ribbon ripping towards Akane.  
  
Akane let it snap around her arm, coiling and bunching  
like a python. She twisted her arm and caught the ribbon with  
her fingers.  
  
Kodachi, refusing to let go of the ribbon, was drawn in  
towards Akane when she began to pull. There was an odd,  
expectant expression on the gymnast's face, as if she thought  
she was invulnerable. Her expression shattered into disbelief  
as Akane drove her tightly clenched fist into Kodachi's gut.  
  
The girl was thrown back and lost her grip on the ribbon.  
Akane threw it to one side.  
  
"*Haff*... How dare you?!?!" Kodachi choked out in  
protest. Fight by the rules, commoner!"  
  
Akane just reached around and backhanded the girl across  
the face as hard as she could.  
  
Kodachi went down, splashing in a large puddle of  
rainwater on the floor. Dazedly, she probed at her lips, which  
were bleeding. For a second, she looked around in disbelief as  
if she didn't understand what was going on. "You... YOU...  
YOU.... DIE, TENDOU!!!" she screamed.  
  
Kodachi launched herself at Akane and began to pound on  
the girl with her fists like a child pounds the floor in a  
tantrum. It was obvious to Akane, who was easily dodging or  
blocking the blows, that Kodachi was quite useless without her  
gymnastics tools.  
  
Akane suddenly realized how badly she was out-classing  
the taller girl. It must have been Ranma's training. Kodachi  
wasn't landing *anything* that Akane couldn't easily block.  
Confidence and strength surged through her. Akane smiled,  
knowing that she had already won the fight.  
  
Akane blocked an angry fist and tagged Kodachi's face  
hard enough to make her spit blood again.  
  
"That does it! KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!" Kodachi  
screamed. She jumped into the air, her fists aimed at Akane's  
face.  
  
Time seemed to slow for Akane. Kodachi seemed to be  
floating in front of her.  
  
With one arm held in a guarded position, Akane lashed out  
with her other fist, hitting a vulnerable spot on Kodachi's  
ribcage. She lashed out again, blackening the girl's left eye.  
She lashed out again... and again... and...  
  
"KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!!" Akane screamed, unleashing  
dozens of blows to Kodachi's vulnerable points in just a few  
seconds. Kodachi flew back and impacted the wall behind her.  
  
Ranma couldn't help but whip around when he heard the  
battle cry and felt the rising aura behind him. Akane's fists  
cut the air like knives. He smiled at Akane, but paid for it  
with his distraction as the hilt of Kunou's katana caught him  
against the side of the head, bruising his ear.  
  
Back in combat-mode, angry at himself for being  
distracted, Ranma turned and dealt the kendoist a vicious  
uppercut. Kunou went flying, but picked himself back up off the  
ground and charged Ranma again.  
  
*This is getting bad,* Ranma thought to himself. He was  
using almost-crippling blows to attack Kunou, but the kendoist  
was so far gone in rage that he wasn't feeling any of the  
injuries Ranma was handing out. Taking a cue from Akane, Ranma  
unleashed an Amaguriken-speed volley of punches and kicks that  
put the taller boy down for a second or two.  
  
Feeling a throbbing in her skull and chest, Kodachi  
blinked her way back to consciousness. She was slumped against  
the wall, lying in a puddle of dirty rainwater. She hurt like  
she had never hurt before and Akane, the girl who had done this  
to her, wasn't even looking at her.  
  
Instead, she was watching Ranma-sama fight with Kodachi's  
brother.  
  
Ranma dodged underneath a swipe of Kunou's blade and  
rolled towards the open door. A blast of cold water from the  
storm outside blew in, drenching the martial artist.  
  
Kodachi blinked, unsure of what she had just seen. Did  
Ranma-sama just... *become*... the...  
  
"No..." she cried, her voice just barely above a weak  
whisper.  
  
"PIGTAILED GIRL!" Kunou screamed, his katana still at the  
ready. "Verily, I have come to nobly free you from your cruel  
enslavement!"  
  
Ranma eeped and dodged back away from the groping  
kendoist, moving through the doorway and outside the building  
into the brunt of the storm. Kunou leapt after her and managed  
to grab her roughly around the midsection, groping crudely at  
one of the girl's breasts.  
  
"Free this, Kunou!" Akane yelled, running out into the  
storm and throwing a punch at the side of the distracted  
kendoist's head.  
  
Kunou took the hit and stumbled in the driving rain,  
losing his grip on Ranma. He turned around and lashed at Akane  
with his katana.  
  
Akane screamed in pain. She was too close to dodge the  
swing. Kunou sliced open her forearm in a long, shallow gash.  
Driven by the rain, blood began to pour down Akane's arm.  
  
"Hold, fiery Akane! Your turn to battle Blue Thunder  
shall come anon! I must first capture mighty pigtailed girl  
before I can turn my attention to you, fair one!"  
  
"Akane!" Ranma cried out, panicked and enraged.  
  
"I'm okay!" Akane shouted over the roaring wind. She  
gripped the wound with her hand, holding it closed and applying  
as much pressure as she could to try to stop the bleeding.  
"Just put him out!" she yelled, running back into the building.  
  
Kodachi blinked, not believing what she's seen. Ranma-  
sama had just become the pigtailed girl and her brother had  
seriously hurt Akane, a girl he claimed to love. What madness  
was this? She staggered to her  
  
"Okay, you asshole," Ranma screamed. "You just did the  
one thing that's gonna earn you a trip to the morgue." She  
leapt for Kunou, easily dodging the katana strikes and driving  
her foot into his chin.  
  
Kunou was knocked down, but staggered back to his feet.  
  
"I fight on!" he yelled back in defiance.  
  
He raised his katana and started a vicious slashing  
attack that crossed back and forth in front of Ranma.  
  
Unwilling to risk being caught with Kunou's blade, Ranma  
allowed herself to be backed into the building. Eventually,  
Kunou's katana slashed into the wall and stuck. Steaming water  
from the boiler line behind the surface of the wall began to  
spray out, mixing with the cold rain.  
  
Ranma was caught in the spray once again, this time  
changing back into a man.  
  
"What have you done with the pigtailed girl?!?" Kunou  
screamed, his rage increasing as he tried to dislodge his sword  
from its metal trap  
  
Kodachi boggled, falling back to her knees. Ranma's  
fighting movements didn't even change when he transformed. It  
was true... and her brother couldn't see that.  
  
Akane glanced at her as she clutched at her bloody arm.  
  
"This is for tearing up my place," Ranma hissed, driving  
his fist into Kunou's face, bloodying the kendoist's nose. "And  
this is for grabbing me," he yelled, punching Kunou again.  
  
Defiantly, Kunou strained, trying to pull his sword out  
of the wall.  
  
"And this is for cutting Akane, you asshole!"  
  
Kodachi had never seen a blow so powerful. Her brother  
was bleeding freely from his nose and mouth as he fell away  
from Ranma's fist, his hands finally losing their grip on his  
katana.  
  
Exhausted, Ranma staggered over to Akane and peered at  
her wounded arm. "Are you okay?"  
  
Akane nodded. The wound was not life threatening, but it  
would definitely need medical attention soon. She would be  
lucky if it didn't leave a large scar.  
  
Kodachi crawled over to her brother and checked for a  
pulse. He was still alive, but his face was bruised beyond  
recognition and he was bleeding from both ears.  
  
"Ranma-sama," she called out.  
  
Ranma ignored her. He had ripped a piece of his Chinese  
shirt away, dampened it in the warm stream of water from the  
boiler line, and was using to clean Akane's wound.  
  
"Ranma-sama."  
  
"Haven't you done enough?" Ranma asked angrily, whipping  
around to face her. "What? Did you think I'd be *happy* you  
intruded on my personal life and tried to hurt the woman I  
love?"  
  
The stream from the broken boiler line suddenly went cold  
and surged, splashing both Ranma and Akane with chilly water.  
Ranma changed again.  
  
"Moron," she insulted the gymnast in a cold voice.  
  
Kodachi stared on in quiet horror. He... he... she... was  
angry. At her. At Kodachi. The gymnast, wearing the tattered  
remains of the lingerie... that Ranma... had... had *not*  
bought for her, began to feel ashamed.  
  
"I... fight... on!" Kunou shouted, lurching to a sitting  
position.  
  
Kodachi grabbed one of her discarded clubs and rapped him  
across the back of the head.  
  
"Sister... dearest?" he asked just before he passed back  
out.  
  
"You really do have no idea, do you?" She asked in a  
haughty, accusing tone. Still, inside, she felt horrible. Ranma  
*hated* her.  
  
Kunou burbled, as the bleeding from his nose started to  
wane.  
  
"Is he okay?" Akane asked in concern, still holding her  
injured arm.  
  
Kodachi scowled, her face red with embarrassment and  
misery. "I'm certain he'll survive, and if he doesn't, would  
you really be upset?"  
  
Akane raised her eyebrows at the statement. Ranma just  
stared at her coldly.  
  
Kodachi turned away, not able to face either one of them  
any more. Feeling more horrible than she ever had before, she  
reached down and hefted her brother across her shoulders.  
Staggering under the weight, she lurched out into the storm.  
  
* * *  
  
"Who knew?" Hiroshi Tanaka wondered out loud as he  
watched the bulk of the storm approach the Japanese mainland on  
radar.  
  
'Mikado' was going to top out as a Class 1 typhoon, so  
even though there was no evacuation warning, there probably  
wouldn't be any real damage or injury caused by the storm. It  
was a big blowhard, and nothing more.  
  
He sipped his coffee and swore as he burned his mouth  
again.  
  
* * *  
  
"MY LITTLE GIRL IS ALL ALONE!!!!" Soun wailed.  
  
"Really, Daddy," Nabiki complained, glancing around at  
all the other travellers in the Honolulu International Airport.  
There were a good number of Japanese there that could  
understand what he was saying and knew enough about the storm  
to understand why he was upset, but there were more Americans  
and people from other countries that just stared in awe at the  
raving Japanese man. "You need to calm down. I'm certain that  
Akane's okay."  
  
"It's official, Tendou," Genma stated as he walked up out  
of the crowd. "They've canceled all flights into or out of  
Narita for today and tomorrow. The girl at the JAL counter  
wouldn't even tell me when the first flight back was  
scheduled."  
  
"We'll hike back, then!" Soun declared, defiantly  
shouldering his back-pack and hefting his small travel-bag. "I  
won't allow my baby daughter to face this horror all by  
herself!"  
  
"There is the small matter of a few thousand miles of  
ocean to cross, Daddy," Nabiki reminded him. "You don't mind  
swimming, do you?"  
  
"It's pointless, Tendou," Genma protested. "Even if we  
did manage to get a boat or *ahem*... swim, it would still be  
faster to wait here for the next flight."  
  
"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"  
  
Kasumi, Tofu and his mother walked back over to the group  
from a cluster of pay-phones.  
  
"I can't reach Akane at the dojo," Kasumi explained,  
putting a finger to her wailing father's lips. "But that  
probably means that she's found shelter with her friends," she  
concluded.  
  
*She's with Ranma,* Nabiki guessed, *and Kasumi knows  
it.*  
  
"Really, Father," Kasumi said, comforting the man. "Akane  
will be just fine. She has angels watching over her, you know."  
  
  
* * *  
  
Akane did indeed have angels watching her.  
  
As a matter of fact, she had two. Only moments after  
Kodachi and Kunou disappeared into the rain, a certain BMW  
motorcycle drove up, protected from the rain and wind by a  
magical bubble. On board were Keiichi, Megumi, and Belldandy as  
well as Skuld in miniature form. Trying to keep from getting  
more soaked, the four rushed into the damaged lobby of the  
apartment building.  
  
Upon seeing what had happened, Belldandy instantly took  
Akane's arm and began to examine the cut.  
  
"Is she going to be all right, Onee-sama?" Skuld asked.  
  
"Of course, Skuld. Do you want to help me heal Akane-  
chan's injury?"  
  
Skuld nodded nervously and stepped forward. As Belldandy  
began to chant quietly, Skuld began to glow. Both seemed a  
little tired afterwards, but Skuld quickly pulled out an ice  
cream crunch bar and began to snarf it up.  
  
"They're really using too much power," Keiichi commented,  
"But Skuld's providing a lot of the energy so that Bell-chan  
can do more in the way of control. It's still exhausting--"  
  
"But this is an emergency," Belldandy cut him off. "I'll  
be all right. Your home still needs to be protected against the  
storm, doesn't it, Akane?"  
  
The girl nodded. "I couldn't ask you to help, Belldandy."  
  
"It's okay," Megumi said. "Skuld made these for us!"  
  
She pulled three rifle-like devices from the sidecar of  
Keiichi's motorcycle. They had tanks on the top that sloshed  
back and forth with a thick green liquid. They looked rather  
like water guns.  
  
"We can use these to cover the windows and doors,"  
Keiichi explained. "Right, Skuld?"  
  
The smallest goddess nodded confidently, still chewing  
eagerly on her ice-cream bar.  
  
The ride was tight, but after making sure Ranma and  
Megumi's apartment rooms were locked up tight, Akane and Ranma  
crammed into the side car, while Megumi latched behind her  
brother on the motorcycle's small 'passenger' seat. Belldandy  
and Skuld both shrank down, partly for room and partly for the  
sake of conserving energy. Once again, Belldandy cast a spell  
that created a bubble around the motorcycle so that high speed  
was not a problem, even in the driving rain, which was rapidly  
getting worse.  
  
They leapt out in front of the Tendou Dojo and went to  
work, using Skuld's devices to coat all the windows and doors  
with a kind of super-tough lightweight adhesive foam. It was  
quick work, even though Ranma and Akane both had to be careful  
to stay on their feet in the high winds.  
  
They also had to be careful to try to keep the green goo  
from getting on their hands. It tended to drip down the spray  
guns and stick to their fingers. After trying to help each  
other peel the substance away, Belldandy had to cast a spell to  
unstick them.  
  
After less than a half hour, even with minor problems,  
the house and dojo had both been secured and the group was on  
their way to Belldandy's temple.  
  
Ranma and Akane were nestled together in Keiichi's side-  
car again as Keiichi began the long drive across town. Ranma  
was in back, holding Akane in front of her. Ranma could feel  
how tense and upset the girl still was.  
  
It was a few minutes into the ride when Akane turned and  
pressed her face into Ranma's red hair and began to whisper.  
Even with Belldandy's shield, the wind whipped howlingly around  
them so that only Ranma could hear her.  
  
"So... So why were you in there... naked... with  
Kodachi?" Akane asked.  
  
Ranma gulped. She could hear the pain and uncertainty in  
her voice over the roaring wind. She knew that if she answered  
wrong, then she stood the chance of truly injuring Akane and  
tearing the two of the apart. What to do? How was he supposed  
to get out of this one?  
  
"The... The uh... lingerie was supposed to be for you,"  
Ranma admitted, a blush creeping up her face. She decided to  
tell the truth and see what happened.  
  
Akane relaxed somewhat against Ranma's damp chest.  
  
Once the words started out of Ranma's mouth, they were  
almost impossible to stop.  
  
"I... wanted it to be a surprise for you when we met, but  
then it started to rain, and I was so keyed up that I didn't  
realize she was following me. I guess I forgot to lock the door  
on my room and..."  
  
"So what I saw was--"  
  
"Kodachi tryin' to rip my towel off, just after I got out  
of the shower," Ranma finished. "I can't tell you how pissed I  
was right then. I... uh... I hit Kodachi," Ranma admitted  
guiltily.  
  
Akane blinked in surprise.  
  
"I really shouldn't have. I feel horrible about it,"  
Ranma said, a self-loathing expression growing in her eyes.  
  
Akane couldn't help but smile. True, it was rather unfair  
for Ranma to hit Kodachi in his anger, but Akane couldn't help  
but feel like Ranma was defending her *and* their relationship.  
  
"Well, tell me next time, and I'll hit her for you,"  
Akane offered, a smile playing across her lips. "Ranma...  
I'm... I'm sorry that I jumped to..."  
  
"'S okay," Ranma said. "I'm sorry your nighty got  
trashed. I'll... uh... I'll get you... a new one," she said,  
blushing furiously.  
  
Akane's smile widened. Impulsively, she twisted and  
pecked the red-head on the lips.  
  
Ranma started, but returned the kiss.  
  
"You should have told me you wanted to see me in  
lingerie," Akane whispered into Ranma's ear.  
  
Ranma could feel the girl's hot breath flowing over her  
skin. It tingled in the cold air, and Ranma couldn't help but  
shudder.  
  
"Oh?" she asked, trembling slightly, even though she was  
quite a bit warmer than she was a second ago.  
  
"I have some at home that I've been wanting to model for  
you for quite a while," Akane admitted. "Maybe after the  
storm?" she suggested.  
  
Ranma was speechless.  
  
* * *  
  
  
Kodachi was not quite sure how she had gotten home. It  
had taken her a few hours to cross town on foot. She guessed  
her brother's weight had kept her from being blown away. Now,  
as the storm outside had turned almost completely black in the  
early evening, she was nursing a low-grade fever and a runny  
nose in one of the sitting rooms in the Kunou mansion. Most of  
the windows had already been boarded over, but the one next to  
her was in the lee of the bulk of the mansion, protected from  
high winds and flying debris. As she listened to a weather  
report on a battery operated radio, she watched the rain hammer  
down and the brutal winds roar through the trees. The storm  
outside mirrored her mood. Even as the howling winds tore at  
the grounds of the Kunou Estate, so did the winds of  
uncertainty tear at her fevered brain.  
  
Ranma loved her, didn't he? How could any man resist her  
charms, elegant and dark like midnight? Wasn't Ranma attracted  
to her body, toned by years of gymnastics and martial arts?  
Didn't he know that she would do anything to please him?  
  
Yet Ranma had rebuked her. As the lump on her forehead  
attested, he had done so rather forcefully.  
  
Another blow: Ranma *was* the red-haired pigtailed girl,  
Kodachi thought after a few seconds. It was a difficult  
conclusion to come to, but she simply couldn't rationalize what  
she had seen any other way. She had heard rumors of a dark  
curse that plagued the man she loved, but she had dismissed  
them as poppycock. Now... Now she wasn't so sure. Was it  
because she had treated the pigtailed girl so badly that Ranma  
was wroth with her? Perhaps... Perhaps it was because she had  
treated the Tendou girl so poorly. Ranma seemed to be rather  
affectionate with her.  
  
Lightening crashed fiercely. Kodachi couldn't tell from  
the volume, but it sounded as if it had struck somewhere close  
by. The power went out, robbing Kodachi of the light of the  
small lamp next to her. The battery powered radio continued to  
play, interrupted only by brief surges of static.  
  
On a sofa next to her, Kunou sat up and began to rant in  
a delirious voice. "Whazz? Nuh? Drat! The foul sorcerer Saotome  
has spirited away the Pigtailed Girl and Akane Tendou once  
again! The letch!" He staggered to his feet, clutching at his  
aching skull. "I... ooh... I shall vanquish him this day! I  
swear that... uhhh... swear... ugh... Blue Thunder doesn't feel  
so good."  
  
Kodachi lit a candle, casting her flushed face in an  
eerie mix of light and shadow. "I'm not surprised, my buffoon  
of a brother. The 'foul sorcerer' gave you a *richly* deserved  
concussion."  
  
"Untrue!" Kunou declared, lurching around the room,  
looking for his katana. "Ranma Saotome could never... uhhhhgh."  
Tatewaki dropped to his knees and clutched at his head. "I feel  
*very* bad, Sister."  
  
"You're lucky you got off so easily after you hurt Akane,  
you moron." Kodachi said, snapping at her brother. It felt  
good to say it, after Ranma had used that same insult on her.  
It still didn't ease the persistent ache in her heart, however.  
  
"I fight on." Kunou stated, rising unsteadily back to his  
feet. "Where is my noble blade?"  
  
"I have *no* idea, Brother," Kodachi admitted. "I do know  
that you will probably not survive if you venture back out into  
the storm. Why don't you wait for it to subside before persuing  
your specious romances."  
  
"Yes. Of course. Even the indomitable Tatewaki Kunou must  
take time to rest and heal from his harrowing ordeal. Hold  
tightly, my loves. I shall come to rescue you soon!"  
  
"And Akane and Ranma-sama will be just as happy to pound  
you into oblivion later rather than sooner, I would think,"  
Kodachi said out loud to herself.  
  
Unfazed by her words, Kunou staggered off into the  
recesses of the mansion, probably to soak his aching head.  
  
Kodachi sighed deeply and considered going to find the  
emergency generators deep in the basement of the mansion.  
Instead, she rose from her seat and used her candle to light  
several more around the room, casting a warm twilight against  
the dark fury of the storm.  
  
For some reason, the weak candlelight seemed more  
comforting than all the impervious bulk of her family's estate.  
  
After several seconds, she reached into a nearby shelf  
and took down a pen and paper.  
  
"My dearest Ranma-sama... No. That's not right. It would  
only upset him further."  
  
She put the tip of the pen to her lip and looked out into  
the storm in thought. After a few seconds she began to write.  
  
"Dear Ranma. I have been a fool. For of all the ways I  
wanted to show my love for you, I never intended to hurt your  
feelings..."  
  
Kodachi sighed, suddenly very unsure of herself and what  
she had written. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say, but at  
least she had a start.  
  
* * *  
  
Author's notes:  
  
Let's see a show of hands in the audience, who knows what a  
'Freeze Plug' is in relationship to a car.  
  
(Jones nods, seeing a few of the more mechanically inclined  
members of the audience wincing in sympathy.)  
  
Well *I* didn't, not until mine cracked and started spraying water  
all over my engine block. If you can't imagine the sound that  
would make, imagine the sound on any given planet just after Kei  
and Yuri have visited. It's also the sound my checkbook made when  
I spent the majority of Friday afternoon and evening at the local  
Mazda dealership looking at the prospect of getting myself in  
beucoup debt. After a family member's wedding I attended today, I  
managed to polish up the second draft and post it. It's a good  
thing because I wouldn't have had time to do it tommorrow, either.  
  
("Ahem, excuse me, Jones-san," a young woman in the front row  
asks. "Why are you apologizing for *this* delay, when it's been  
more than a year since you posted "Guises?")  
  
Ahhh... Uhhh... Sore wa himitsu-des!  
  
(The Audience is *not* amused.)  
  
Okay. First of all, I've been writing 'The Clan'. Most of the 20+  
chapters were written between the first half and second half of  
'Storms'. On top of that, in the last few months, I've experienced  
the wonder of a high-speed personal internet connection. I've  
gotten rather heavily into the online-fansub trading scene and  
have actually been *watching* more anime than I've been writing  
fanfiction. Doing so has finally eradicated my unfulfilled desire  
to write Eva fanfics. Now I want to write 'Kodomo no Omocha',  
'Tenshi ni Narumon' and 'Love Hina' fics.  
  
Hmmm... 'Kodomo no Omocha ni Narumon' (I'll become a Child's Toy!)  
  
What's next for Ranma's Apartment? Part 5 will *definitely* be the  
last chapter. Look forward to Shampoo and Ukyou looking for  
answers from Ranma. There may also be a Lemon side story that  
covers the rest of the duration of 'Mikado'.  
  
What's next for me? Probably more 'Clan' if I can get to it. There  
may be a one-shot or two in the works.  
  
One last thing: I posted a few of my stories to fanfiction.net and  
have already seen some reviews generated by the site. Has anyone  
else on the FFML had good or bad experiences with fanfiction.net?  
If you're not familiar with fanfiction.net, they host thousands of  
fanfic stories of all genres. Did you know there was a thriving  
Harry Potter fanfic community?  
  
Finally, I'd like to thank Vincent, David, Steven, Allyn, and  
MWhaleK (and everybody else I forgot...) for prereading. In  
particular, Vincent shredded my story and made me repolish it. I'd  
also like to thank everyone who's written in about chapters 1-3.  
I'll try to get back to everybody, but it may take a few days.  
(Just for the record, Skuld's change triggering device burned out  
between 'Guises' and 'Storms'. ^_^)  
  
Vincent Says: "What? What DOES the master always say about women  
with tattoos?  
Whaaaaat?" ...as Megumi might say. :)"  
  
  
C.  
* * *  
  
C. Jones   
http://www.furinkan.net  
  
Watashi ha ultra-relakusu!  
  
  
  
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